Michael Ray Bourn (born December 27, 1982) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Baltimore Orioles between 2006 and 2016.

Michael Ray Bourn was born in Houston, Texas on December 27, 1982, the first of two sons to parents Carrie and Raymond.

While he displayed little power, collecting only two home runs and 23 extra-base hits in 644 at-bats, he won attention from professional scouts by posting a .431 on-base percentage and stealing 90 bases in 119 attempts.

Bourn signed shortly after the draft, and was assigned to play for the Batavia Muckdogs of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League.

He was sent to home plate to bat only 11 times during the month of September, but was used frequently as a pinch runner as the Phillies competed for the National League's wild card position (ultimately coming up two games short) to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

[10] After a strong performance during spring training in 2007, Bourn won a position on the Phillies' major league roster to begin the year.

On July 15, 2007, Bourn hit his first career home run as the Phillies recorded their 10,000th franchise loss by losing to the St. Louis Cardinals 10–2.

[11] On July 27, Bourn was in the Phillies' starting lineup for the first time due to injuries to both Chase Utley and Aaron Rowand, and had his first 4-hit game in an 8–1 rout of the Pirates, in which he scored two runs.

On November 7, 2007, Bourn was traded along with Geoff Geary and Mike Costanzo to the Houston Astros for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett.

[13] Houston's General Manager, Ed Wade, declared Bourn as the 2008 Astros' leadoff hitter and starting center fielder, effectively moving Hunter Pence to right field.

[15] His much improved play prompted former manager Cecil Cooper to informally name him the club MVP before he was fired.

[16] The Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America formally named Bourn the Astros 2009 team MVP shortly after the end of the season.

[17] Changing his uniform number to 21, Bourn followed up his breakout season with another successful year in 2010, being elected to the National League All-Star team[18] and was in the outfield when the final out of the game was recorded.

Bourn suffered an oblique injury on September 19 while swinging at a pitch,[19] causing him to miss the final 3 weeks of the season.

Bourn finished second behind David Freese[23] but was added to the roster a day later as a replacement for the injured Ian Desmond.

[26] On February 11, 2013, Bourn agreed to a four-year, $48 million contract with the Cleveland Indians that includes a vesting option for 2017, which would be met if he records 550 plate appearances in the final guaranteed year, 2016.

[30] Two days later on June 1, Bourn hit a walk-off two-run home run to lead the Indians to a 6–4 win over and three–game sweep of the Rockies.

On April 26 against the Detroit Tigers, he was dropped from the leadoff spot in the lineup for the first time as a Cleveland Indian as a result of his struggles, batting ninth instead.

[32] On August 7, 2015, the Indians traded Bourn and Nick Swisher with cash considerations to the Atlanta Braves for Chris Johnson.