Steven Allen Finley (born March 12, 1965 in Union City, Tennessee) is a Major League Baseball center fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Previously, he played with the Baltimore Orioles (1989-90), Houston Astros (1991-93), San Diego Padres (1995-98), Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2004) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2004). Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, bats and throws left-handed.

At the age of 39, Finley became the oldest player in the past 30 years (other than Otis Nixon in 1997-98) to play 100-plus games in center field. Finley is a complete player, who never carried any of his problems on offense out to center field. He continuous to play great defense, running down line drives and throwing well. Always into the game, he is a thinking player with a great sense for where the ball is likely to be hit. With his excellent bat speed, Finley is basically a pull hitter, especially on groundballs. When he hits a ball in the gap, he has the speed to produce doubles and triples as well.

Finley is a career .276 hitter with 285 home runs, 1071 RBI, 1327 runs, 2336 hits, 405 doubles, 109 triples, and 305 stolen bases in 2289 games.

Highlights

• Twice All-Star (1997, 2000)
• 5-time Gold Glove Award (1995-96, 1999, 2000, 2004)
• Top 10 National League MVP (10th, 1996)
• Twice led NL in games played (162, in 1992 and 2004)
• Twice led NL in triples (1993, 2003)
• Hit two 3-Home run games in the same season (April 8 and May 19, 1997)
• Hit three home runs and drove in six runs in a game (September 8, 1999)
• Twice hit a game-ending grand slam (April 10, 1998, and October 2, 2004)
• Oldest player to lead his league in triples since Tommy Henrich in 1948 (38, 2003)
• Led active players in triples (109)
• Named MVP in the All-Stars Series between Japan and United States (Tokyo, 1996)
• On October 2, 2004, Finley's walk-off grand slam capped a seven-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Dodgers clinched the NL West Division title by beating San Francisco 7-3.

Also see

• List of NL Gold Glove Winners at Outfield
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• Batters with two 3-home run games in a season
• 2001 World Series

External links

• Steve Finley at:
  • Baseball Almanac (photos and miscellaneous)
  • Baseball Library (article)
  • Baseball Reference (analysis and stats)
  • ESPN (profile and daily stats)