Growing up in Casper Wyoming, Mike Lansing played every sport. He could have played football in college but opted to go the baseball route and chose Wichita State. Turned out to be a good move as the Shockers won their first ever College World Series with Mike as their shortstop.
In 1990, while his college teammates were getting drafted by MLB teams, Mike got drafted by the Maimi Miracle, an independent minor league team, that basically utilized a never before used loophole to get players. He was baffled but kept playing and eventually got to the Montreal Expos, where he got his MLB debut and was also traded to the Rockies after 5 seasons. Mike expected that trade because it was typical of the Expos. What he didn’t expect was when Colorado traded him mid-season in 2000 to the Red Sox. He was shocked, but stayed professional and proved himself in Boston.
In retirement, Mike is a “girl dad” to a young adult and teenager, plays golf around the Denver area as often as he can and still loves talking baseball.