Mike Darr

Michael Curtis Darr (March 21, 1976 – February 15, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played from 1999 through 2001 for the San Diego Padres.

Born and raised in Corona, California, Darr was a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers out of high school in 1994.

After playing 58 games with the Padres in 2000, Darr was named the team's Opening Day right fielder in 2001, serving as the everyday player at that position until August.

He was buried at the Crestlawn Memorial Park in Riverside, California; the Padres wore a black patch with the number 26 on it on their uniforms for the rest of the 2002 season in tribute.

[1][2][3] Darr also had a younger brother named Ryan who would be drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996 and play minor league baseball for five years.

[4] At Corona High School, Darr played on the baseball team and earned All-California Interscholastic Federation honors.

[5] Late in 1997 spring training, he was traded to the San Diego Padres with Matt Skrmetta for Jody Reed on March 22.

[10] Darr was ranked the fourth-best prospect in the Padres organization by Baseball America in 1999, behind only Matt Clement, Ben Davis, and Junior Herndon.

[6] He began the season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Stars of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) but was promoted to the Padres in May.

[5][11] He made his major league debut on May 23, pinch-hitting for Rubén Rivera and striking out in the ninth inning of a 6–2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

[13] Facing the Oakland Athletics in an interleague game on June 8, he hit his first major league home run, a solo affair against Tim Hudson as the Padres won 5–3.

[14] After making seven starts for San Diego in right field and batting .226, he was sent back to Las Vegas on June 13 when Tony Gwynn came off the disabled list.

[5] He was recalled by San Diego after the July 31 trade deadline, as the Padres dealt Al Martin, creating a vacancy in the outfield.

[17] In his first game back, on August 1, he hit a two-run home run against Robert Person in San Diego's 10–9 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

[2] On August 16, his two-run, eighth-inning home run against Rick White of the New York Mets pushed San Diego to the lead in their 6–5 win.

[25] Against the Giants in the 10th inning of a tie game on September 22, he hit a pinch-hit walkoff home run against Brian Boehringer, giving San Diego a 4–3 win.