:Shooty Babitt

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Shooty Babitt

|position=Second Baseman

|image=Shooty Babitt.jpg

|caption = Babitt in 1984

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1959|3|9}}

|birth_place=Oakland, California

|death_date=

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate= April 9

|debutyear= 1981

|debutteam= Oakland Athletics

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 4

|finalyear=1981

|finalteam= Oakland Athletics

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.256

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=0

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=14

|teams=

Oakland Athletics ({{baseball year|1981}})

}}

Mack Neal "Shooty" Babitt (born March 9, 1959) is an American former second baseman who played for the Oakland Athletics during the 1981 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. After retiring as a player, Babitt became a baseball scout, and later worked as a television analyst.

Career

Babitt was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 25th round of the {{baseball year|1977}} Major League Baseball Draft. He began his career with a seven-game hitting streak, the second longest such streak in Oakland A's history.{{cite news|url=http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_9557363?source=rss|title=A's Notebook: Outfielder Brown is healthy scratch again|last=Hurd|first=Rick|newspaper=Contra Costa Times|date= June 12, 2008}} For his career, Babitt played in 54 major league games in 1981, hitting .256 in 156 at bats. Oakland manager Billy Martin later commented, "If you ever see Shooty Babitt play second base for me again, I want you to Shooty me."{{cite book|last=Neyer|first=Rob|title=Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups: A Complete Guide to the Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Players to Ever Grace the Major Leagues|year=2003|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0743241746|page=169|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vYKjyXmt0YC&q=shooty+babitt&pg=PA169}}

Babitt was a long-time advance scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and since 2008, he has been a scout for the New York Mets.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/mets/2008-06-23-manuel-makeover_N.htm|title=New manager Manuel key to Mets' personality makeover|last=Nightengale|first=Bob|publisher=USA Today|date= June 24, 2008}} Additionally, since 2008, he has worked as a television color analyst on the pre- and post-game shows for Oakland A's home games on NBC Sports California. Beginning in 2014, he has also substituted for game analyst Ray Fosse on 20 A's games per season.{{cite web|url=http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140221&content_id=68076386¬ebook_id=68076306&vkey=notebook_oak&c_id=oak|title=Babitt set to join A's broadcast as analyst|last=Lee|first=Jane|work=MLB.com|date=February 21, 2014|access-date=February 23, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225144502/http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140221&content_id=68076386¬ebook_id=68076306&vkey=notebook_oak&c_id=oak|archive-date=February 25, 2014}}

His son, Zach Babitt was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.{{cite web|title=Zach Babitt Becomes First in Art U History Selected in MLB Draft|date=June 5, 2012 |url=http://artuathletics.com/news/2012/6/5/BB_0605125958.aspx|publisher=Academy of Art University|access-date=December 16, 2013}}