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Eric Chavez

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SiegeX (talk | contribs) at 06:52, 21 March 2009 (He's not from Spain, his father is of Mexican heritage and his mother is as well.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Eric Chavez
Oakland Athletics – No. 3
Third baseman
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
debut
September 8, 1998, for the Oakland Athletics
Career statistics
(through 2008 season)
Batting average.269
Home runs229
Runs batted in776
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Eric Cesar Chavez (born December 7, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is a Mexican-American third baseman in Major League Baseball who has played for the Oakland Athletics since 1998. Chavez is the last member of the Oakland Athletics team described in the Moneyball era of 2000 to 2003. Due to this, Chavez is also seen to be and regarded as the prominent "team leader" of the A's today. From an ESPN.com article by Eric Neel, he came to be known as the "Lion of Alameda County."

During Chavez's career he has won six Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (2001-2006).

High school career

Chavez attended Mount Carmel High School in San Diego, California, where he was a two-time Baseball America High School All-American selection.[1] In his junior year, he was the only junior selected nationwide for the honor, finishing the year with a batting average of .535, nine home runs, 35 runs batted in, and 51 stolen bases.[1] As a senior, he batted .458 with 11 home runs, 24 RBI and 33 stolen bases en route to his second All-American selection.[1]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Chavez's high school success was such that in the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the first round as the tenth pick.[2] Chavez eventually chose a professional baseball career over a full scholarship at the University of Southern California (USC), signing with the Athletics on August 27, 1996.[2] His time in the minor leagues was relatively short, lasting just under two seasons. He spent the 1997 season playing for the Visalia Oaks, the Single-A team in the Athletics' farm system.[3] He played 134 games, all at third base, and hit .271 with 18 home runs and 100 RBI.[3] Before the start of the 1998 season, Chavez was promoted to the Double-A Huntsville Stars.[3] After 88 games, he had a batting average of .328, 28 home runs, 86 RBI, 12 stolen bases, and a triple.[2] His efforts caused him to be promoted to the Edmonton Trappers, where in 47 games he hit 11 home runs and had a .325 batting average.[3] When Edmonton's season finished up on September 8, 1998, he was called up to the major leagues.[4] He finished his minor league career by being named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America, as well as earning the J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/NAPBL Minor League Player of the Year.[4]

Oakland Athletics

He made his professional debut on September 8, 1998, in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, where he came in as a pinch hitter for Mike Blowers and struck out in his only at-bat.[4] He finished the 1998 season having played in 16 games, and ending with a .311 batting average, as well as a triple.[2]

Chavez won six consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards from 2001–2006. In 2004, the A's signed him to a six-year, $66-million contract extension.

In the 27 games of September and October in 2001, Chavez hit ten home runs with 31 RBI, a .379 batting average and a .738 slugging percentage resulting in him being named the American League Player of the Month for the only time in his career.

Between 2002-2005, his batting average remained consistent, hitting in the .270-.280 range. His home runs hit remained steady, hitting 29 in 2003 and 2004, and 27 in 2005. However, his offense production dropped in 2006, with his batting average dropping to .241, despite hitting 22 home runs. This slump continued into 2007, hitting .240 and 15 home runs.[5]

Through his first ten years with the A's, Chavez played 1256 games and batted .269. He had 227 home runs and 762 RBI. Chavez batted .250 and slugged .445 in April and in May combined, but batted .294 and slugged .544 in June, July and August, continuing a constant theme in the Oakland A's organization in that they are a "second half" team.

He started the 2008 season on the disabled list, due to back pain. He was activated from the disabled list on May 29. On July 2, he was place on the 15-day disabled list again with right shoulder inflammation.

Statistics

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB IBB SO SH SF HBP GDP SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
1998 20 OAK AL 16 45 6 14 4 1 0 6 20 3 1 5 0 0 0 1 1 1 .311 .354 .444 .798
1999 21 OAK AL 115 356 47 88 21 2 13 50 152 46 4 56 0 0 0 7 1 1 .247 .333 .427 .760
2000 22 OAK AL 153 501 89 139 23 4 26 86 248 62 8 94 0 5 1 9 2 2 .277 .355 .495 .850
2001 23 OAK AL 151 552 91 159 43 0 32 114 298 41 9 99 0 7 4 7 8 2 .288 .338 .540 .878
2002 24 OAK AL 153 585 87 161 31 3 34 109 300 65 13 119 0 2 1 8 8 3 .275 .348 .513 .861
2003 25 OAK AL 156 588 94 166 39 5 29 101 302 62 10 89 0 3 1 14 8 3 .282 .350 .514 .864
2004 26 OAK AL 125 475 87 131 20 0 29 77 238 95 10 99 0 4 3 21 6 3 .276 .397 .501 .898
2005 27 OAK AL 160 625 92 168 40 1 27 101 291 58 4 129 0 9 2 9 6 0 .269 .329 .466 .795
2006 28 OAK AL 137 485 74 117 24 2 22 72 211 84 6 100 0 6 1 19 3 0 .241 .351 .435 .786
2007 29 OAK AL 90 341 43 82 21 2 15 46 152 34 2 76 0 4 0 9 4 2 .240 .306 .446 .752
2008 30 OAK AL 23 89 10 22 7 0 2 14 35 6 0 18 0 0 0 2 0 0 .247 .295 .393 .688
Totals: 1,279 4,642 720 1,247 273 20 229 776 2,247 556 67 884 0 40 13 106 47 17 .269 .346 .484 .830
Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions. Italics: led AL. Bold italics: led MLB.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Eric Chavez Player Information : Biography and Career Highlights". Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  2. ^ a b c d "Eric Chavez statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  3. ^ a b c d "Eric Chavez Statistics - the Baseball Cube". Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  4. ^ a b c "Eric Chavez : 1998 Career Highlights". Retrieved 2007-11-04.
  5. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_player.jsp?playerID=136767&statType=1. Eric Chavez's Player Stats
Preceded by American League Player of the Month
September, 2001 		Succeeded by

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