Eric Karros

Eric Karros
First baseman
Born: November 4, 1967 (1967-11-04) Hackensack, New Jersey
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1991 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
July 21, 2004 for the Oakland Athletics
Career statistics
Batting average	.268
Home runs	284
Runs batted in	1,027
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1991–2002) Chicago Cubs (2003) Oakland Athletics (2004)
Career highlights and awards
1992 NL Rookie of the Year Silver Slugger Award winner (1995)

Eric Peter Karros (born November 4, 1967 in Hackensack, New Jersey) is a former American baseball player who played in Major League Baseball from 1991 to 2004. Karros attended UCLA, where he received a degree in economics.

Playing career

Karros played his first MLB game on September 1, 1991. He played first base (the only field position he ever played) in 1,698 of his 1,711 career games; he was a designated hitter for the other 13 games. He played the majority of his years (1991–2002) for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In his first full year with the Dodgers, Karros was named the 1992 National League Rookie of the Year. Karros put up consistent numbers throughout his career with the Dodgers, with a batting average just under .270 and an average of almost 25 home runs a year. 1999 was his best year with the Dodgers, a batting average of .304 with 34 home runs and 112 runs batted in.

In Los Angeles, Karros was involved in several trade rumors. On December 2, 2002, he was traded along with shortstop Mark Grudzielanek to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for catcher Todd Hundley and outfielder Chad Hermansen. After playing the 2003 season with the Cubs he was granted free agency from the team at the end of the season. He then signed with the Oakland Athletics before the start of the 2004 season. Karros’ final MLB game was on July 21, 2004, and he was released by the Athletics on August 3, 2004.

Highlights

• 1992 National League Rookie of the Year
• 1995 National League Silver Slugger Award at First Base
• Finished 5th in voting for 1995 National League MVP
• Los Angeles Dodgers Career Sacrifice Flies Leader (74)
• Los Angeles Dodgers Career Home Run Leader (270)
• Career leader in Home Runs for Players Born in New Jersey (284)
• Second-most career home runs (behind Tim Salmon) for any player in MLB history who never appeared in the All-Star Game

Broadcasting career

Karros works as a color commentator for baseball on Fox as well as KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, where he does the pre-game show for Dodger games. He previously worked for Fox Sports in 2004 doing the pregame shows for the Major League Baseball playoffs, and ESPN until 2006 as a studio and game analyst. He and Jeromy Burnitz host a daily radio show in San Diego called Live at Five. Karros is a broadcaster on the video game MLB 11: The Show, along with Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell.

See also

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube