Four-time All-Star Chuck Knoblauch has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge filed by his wife.
His wife alleged that Knoblauch choked her and hit her in the face.
Knoblauch will get a year on probation, as well as a $1,000 fine. If Knoblauch finishes his probation, the assault charge will be removed from his record.
Knoblauch, who played 12 MLB seasons, was the 1991 Rookie of the Year and helped the Minnesota Twins win their second World Series championship that season.
Knoblauch would remain a staple at the top of the Twins' lineup, as he hit .304 with 210 doubles, scored 713 runs, and compiled 391 RBI while stealing 276 bases during his seven years as a Twin. He was the 1994 doubles champion and stole over 40 bases three consecutive seasons, including 62 in 1997.
He also won a Gold Glove, two Silver Slugger Awards, and earned his four All-Star appearances while with the Twins.
In a messy divorce between Knoblauch and the Twins, he was traded to the New York Yankees in 1998. Upon his arrival in New York, Knoblauch said that he and SS Derek Jeter would form the best double-play combination in MLB history.
Though Knoblauch would win three World Series championships with the Yankees, his play began to rapidly decline. He had more and more trouble throwing accurately and once hit broadcaster Keith Olbermann's mother in the face.
After Knoblauch committed 54 errors in his first three seasons, Yankees manager Joe Torre would move him to left field, where he remained for the rest of his career.
During a 2001 trip to the Metrodome, Knoblauch was greeted by Twins fans with a shower of golf balls, DomeDogs, beer bottles, and batteries.
Knoblauch's last game as a Yankee was Game Six of the 2001 World Series, which was a 15-2 loss at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Knoblauch batted .053 during the series and was on the bench as he watched the Diamondbacks win Game Seven.
The Yankees won the AL pennant all four years Knoblauch was on the roster.
Knoblauch was released by the Yankees following the World Series and signed with the Kansas City Royals.
He would play only 80 games for Kansas City, hitting .210. After being unable to make a Major League roster in 2003, the 34-year-old retired.
Knoblauch returned to the headlines in 2007 after being named in the Mitchell Report, a list of alleged steroids users. Brian McNamee said he injected Knoblauch seven to nine times with HGH while he was a Yankee.
Knoblauch was subpoenaed by the congressional committee investigating steroids in baseball after he failed to respond to an invitation to give a deposition by the Jan. 18, 2008 deadline. On Jan. 23, the Associated Press reported that federal marshals were unable to find Knoblauch to serve him with the subpoena.
Five days later, it was reported that the congressional subpoena had been withdrawn after Knoblauch agreed to give a deposition on Feb. 1, 2008.
Knoblauch was a career .289 hitter, with 98 home runs, 615 RBI, 1,132 runs scored, and 407 stolen bases.
In 2008, Knoblauch's first year on the Hall of Fame ballot, he received 0.2 percent of the votes, falling well short of the five percent required to stay on the ballot.
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