Editing Eddie Milner

{{Short description|American baseball player (1955–2015)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Eddie Milner
|position=[[Center fielder]]
|image=1979 Nashville Eddie Milner.jpg
|caption=Milner with the [[Nashville Sounds]] in 1979
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date|1955|5|21}}
|birth_place=[[Columbus, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2015|11|02|1955|5|21}}
|death_place=[[Cincinnati, Ohio]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=September 2
|debutyear=1980
|debutteam=Cincinnati Reds
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=July 29
|finalyear=1988
|finalteam=Cincinnati Reds
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.253
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=42
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=195
|teams=
*[[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1980}}–{{mlby|1986}})
*[[San Francisco Giants]] ({{mlby|1987}})
*[[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1988}})
}}
'''Edward James Milner Jr.''' (May 21, 1955 – November 2, 2015) was an American professional [[baseball]] player.<ref name="Eddie Milner statistics">{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/milneed01.shtml |title=Eddie Milner statistics |publisher=baseball-reference.com |access-date=5 July 2012 }}</ref> He played all or parts of nine seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] for the [[Cincinnati Reds]] (1980–86, 1988) and [[San Francisco Giants]] (1987), primarily as a [[center fielder]]. Milner batted and threw left-handed.

==Baseball career==
Milner was drafted out of [[Central State University]] in [[Wilberforce, Ohio]] by the Reds in 1976. He was a part of the disappointing transition of the [[Big Red Machine|championship Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1970s]]. The Reds transitioned from players including [[Ken Griffey Sr.]], [[George Foster (baseball)|George Foster]], and [[Ray Knight]], taking their chances with players including Milner, [[Gary Redus]], and [[Clint Hurdle]]. A highlight of Milner's career was a 20-game [[hitting streak]] in 1986 in which he had batted .417 to go along with a .667 [[slugging percentage]].

Milner suffered from [[cocaine addiction]] during his baseball career. Commissioner [[Peter Ueberroth]] suspended him for the entire [[1988 MLB season|1988 season]] after he relapsed, but he was reinstated before the [[1988 MLB All-Star Game|All-Star break]] after completing a drug rehabilitation program. The Reds released him on July 31, ending his major league career.<ref name="Eddie Milner statistics"/>

==Career statistics==
In a nine-year major league career, Milner played in 804 [[Games played|games]], accumulating 607 [[Hit (baseball)|hits]] in 2,395 [[at bats]] for a .253 career [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] along with 42 [[home run]]s, 195 [[runs batted in]] and an [[on-base percentage]] of .333. Defensively, he finished his career with a .987 [[fielding percentage]] playing at all three outfield positions. Along with [[César Tovar]], Milner is regarded as the all-time major league leader in breaking up [[No-hitter|no-hit]] attempts with five.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tC0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=The Fans Speak Out |date=August 2007 |work=Baseball Digest |access-date=5 July 2012 }}</ref> On August 2, 1986, Milner collected his team's only hit in a game for fifth time, tying Tovar's major league record (1975).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/10-things-i-didnt-know-about-one-hitters/ |title=10 Things I Didn't Know about One Hitters |date=6 February 2012 |publisher=hardballtimes.com |access-date=5 July 2012 }}</ref>

==Personal life==

Milner's cousin, [[John Milner]], was also a major league player.<ref name="Eddie Milner statistics"/>

Milner died on November 2, 2015, in Cincinnati.<ref>{{cite web|title=Former Reds outfielder Eddie Milner dies at 60|url=http://www.wcpo.com/sports/baseball/reds/former-reds-outfielder-eddie-milner-dies-at-60|website=wcpo.com|publisher=WCPO Cincinnati|date=November 4, 2015|access-date=October 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117221206/http://www.wcpo.com/sports/baseball/reds/former-reds-outfielder-eddie-milner-dies-at-60|archive-date=November 17, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=eddie-james-milner&pid=176340255&fhid=9065|title=Obituary from The Columbus Dispatch|website=[[Legacy.com]] |date=November 4, 2015|access-date=October 5, 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats |br=m/milneed01 |brm=milner001edw}}, or [http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/45abc946 SABR Biography Project], or [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmilne001.htm Retrosheet]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milner, Eddie}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
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[[Category:African-American baseball players]]
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[[Category:Nashville Sounds players]]
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