Michael Restovich

Michael Jerome Restovich was born on January 3, 1979 in Rochester, Minnesota.

The Minnesota Twins selected him in round two of the 1997 MLB Draft. He quickly became one of the best prospects in what was an already talented farm system. Restovich hit .355 for the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie) in 1998, and .312 with 107 RBI for the Quad Cities River Bandits (Class-A) in 1999. That 1999 season earned him the Sherry Robertson Award, which is given out annually to the Twins most outstanding position player in their farm system. Baseball America ranked Restovich as their 26th best league wide prospect heading into 2000.

His big league debut came as a September call-up in 2002. Restovich was 4-for-13 (.308) in limited action that month. His first Major League hit was a home run against Kelly Wunsch of the Chicago White Sox on September 21st. He started the 2003 season in Triple-A, but was eventually called up in late July. Restovich immediately unleashed a five game hit streak, which included three doubles and a triple. He was hitting .310 with nine walks across a 52 plate appearance sample size by the end of August, but he cooled off in September and was left off the Twins playoff roster.

Minnesota sent Restovich to Triple-A at the start of 2004. He had two stints in the Majors that season, batting .255 with two home runs and six RBI over 29 games. Restovich wasn't able to break camp with the Twins in 2005. He was out of options, and was claimed on waivers by the Colorado Rockies. Restovich played for the Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals between 2005 and 2007, spending a lot of time in Triple-A between those cups of coffee.

He continued to play professionally through 2011, bouncing around on minor league deals with a stop in Japan.

• 1999 Sherry Robertson Award
  • Twins most outstanding farm system player