Marcus Jensen's professional career began in 1990, when the San Francisco Giants made him the 33rd pick in the amateur draft. The athletically built Jensen played both baseball and basketball at Oakland's Skyline High School. He was regarded at the time as the Giants' catcher of the future.
After working his way through the Giants' minor league system, Jensen received a September call up in 1996. It was the first of many "cup of coffee" stints for the catcher as he appeared in nine games, hitting .211 in 19 at-bats.
Jensen headed north with the Giants following Spring Training in 1997. After hitting only .149 in 30 games, he was traded to Detroit on July 16th. Then, after shuffling back-and-forth between the Tigers and AAA Toledo, he was released in March of 1998 after playing in just 8 games and hitting .182 in 11 at-bats as a Tiger.
The Milwaukee Brewers were the next team to give Jensen a chance. After spending the season in AAA, the Brewers called him up in September. His first tour in Milwaukee consisted of two games and two hitless at-bats. The Brewers released him following the season.
The Cardinals organization was next on Jensen's tour. He was signed in January 1999, and called up on September 1st. In St. Louis, Jensen saw his most big league playing time since 1997, hitting .235 in 16 games. Once again, he was released following the season.
After his above mentioned stop in Minnesota, things really got interesting for the journeyman catcher.
Following his demotion in Minnesota in August of 2000, Jensen spent a month in at AAA Salt Lake and was selected to the United States Olympic Team. In Sydney, Jensen shared the catching duties with former Blue Jay Pat Borders. The United States, of course, defeated Cuba for the gold medal.
It was a thrilling experience for Jensen, who grew up a Dodger fan, to play for Tommy Lasorda, and to win a gold medal. "Winning the Olympics a couple of years ago," he said. "That's the highlight of my career - the top of what I've done so far."
He still discusses the event with former Olympic teammates like Doug Mientkiewicz and Ben Sheets. "Ten, twenty years down the line, we'll still have that experience to keep us together," Jensen said of the bond these players have formed.
After the Dodgers placed him on waivers following Spring Training in 2001, the Red Sox signed Jensen and assigned him to AAA Pawtucket. He remained there until June 8th, when Jason Varitek was placed on the disabled list (DL). Jensen appeared in just one game with Boston. He was waived when they acquired catcher Doug Mirabelli from Texas on June 14th. The next day Texas claimed him to replace Mirabelli, who had been filling in for Bill Hasselman. After a week of serving as Ivan Rodriguez's backup, Jensen was demoted to AAA Oklahoma when Hasselman was activated from the DL.
In just over two weeks, Jensen had gone from Pawtucket to Boston to Texas to Oklahoma. Despite all the movement, and all of the distractions, he kept his focus and a positive attitude. "Going to Pawtucket to Boston to Texas in matter of a week or two. As far as the business goes it's not strange, but there is definitely no stability in that kind of movement," he said.
Jensen played well at Oklahoma, hitting .298 with 8 HR and 25 RBI in 53 games, and was recalled on September 2nd. He finished the season with Texas hitting .160 in 11 games.
Jensen was signed by the Brewers organization again for the 2002 season. He began the year at AAA Indianapolis and was called up to Milwaukee on May 19th when starting catcher, Raul Cassanova, was placed on the DL.
Like most of his call ups it didn't last long, he played in just 16 games, and struggled with the bat, hitting only .114, before being waived on June 24th. He reported back to AAA Indianapolis on June 27th where he finished the season.
Jensen signed a minor league the Phillies on January 17, 2003. He began Spring Training in Clearwater with the Phillies, but was dealt to the Yankees organization on March 27th.
The journeyman catcher reported to AAA Columbus after joining the Yankee organization in late March 2003. He spent the season backing up Michel Hernandez. He played in just 66 games, hitting .224 with a .348 OBP.
» David Zingler is a free lance writer and publisher of simply-BASEBALL-notebook.com
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Copyright © 2003 by simply-BASEBALL-notebook.com. Posted January 27, 2004.
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