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150
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#c6011f
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black
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white
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white
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Andy Abad
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First Base/Outfield
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Cincinnati Reds
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NA
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Left
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Left
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September 10
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2001
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Oakland Athletics
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2005
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Avg
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111
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RBI
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0
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HR
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0
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was born '''Fausto Andres Abad''' on
August 25 ,
1972 in
West Palm Beach, Florida . Before being drafted, he attended
Middle Georgia College . Middle Georgia College has had alumni such as
Kal Daniels ,
Jody Davis ,
Tom Dunbar ,
Shawn Hillegas ,
Mike Fitzgerald ,
Ray Stephens Garey Ingram and
Ernest Riles .
The left handed hitting and throwing Abad was drafted in the 16th round – 443rd overall – in the
1993 amateur-entry draft by the
Boston Red Sox .
Andy-a fair power, fair speed player with an amazing eye at the plate-started out in the
Gulf Coast League . There his professional career started off a little bumpy-he hit only .248 in his rookie professional season.
The next year,
1994 , Andy jumped to Single-A
Sarasota , where he saw some success. His average jumped 40 points from .248 to .288. He remained in Sarasota through part of
1995 , where he then jumped to Double-A
Trenton . His average plummeted to .240 while with Trenton that year.
He was sent back down to single-A Sarasota in
1996 , but he didn't stay there long. After hitting .287 for the Single-A team, he was again called up to Double-A Trenton, and this go around was much more successful. He hit .277 with
Trenton , and combined he had his first 10-plus
Steal season. He ended up with 15.
In 1997, Abad only played 45 games, and all with Double-A Trenton. He hit .303 that year. The first of multiple .300-plus seasons.
In 1998, Abad really showed what he could do. He started out with Triple-A
Pawtucket and made the best of his time there. He experienced his first double digit
Home Run season, where he slammed 16. He also stole 10 bases, for the second time in his career. He also hit .307.
The next year was also very successful-he stole the same amount of bases and hit 15 home runs. His
Average wasn't as lofty, but still not disappointing-he hit .297.
On
October 15 ,
1999 Abad was released. After three straight very successful seasons, he was granted free agency.
Anybody could have just gone home and retired, but he wanted to play baseball. So, he went overseas, and played in
Japan with the
Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2000. He must have done good enough, because after the 2000 season, the
Oakland Athletics scooped him up.
And he started in the minors again. There he had perhaps the best season of his minor league career with the Triple-A
Sacramento River Cats – he hit .301 with 19 home runs.
He made his
MLB debut in
2001 – he played in one game and went 0 for 1 in 1 plate appearance. His one plate appearance was as a
Pinch Hitter for
Jeremy Giambi . He may have not produced in his first at-bat, but at least he didn't
Strikeout .
Now, after seeing Abad spend the majority of his nine-year professional career in the minors or overseas, and getting only one chance to play, one might begin to think Andy is a bad player. But to many, he is not. He hit over .300 five times, walked more than struck out three times, and hit over 15 homers three times.
But, these successes could not keep him in the
Athletics system. He was granted free agency and later picked up by the
Florida Marlins .
One would expect Abad to be wearing down at this point in his career. However, with Triple-A Calgary in 2002, he hit 11 home runs and had a .301 average, but again was granted free-agency.
And again, he was signed by Boston. Not surprisingly, he started out the season in the minors-with Triple-A
Pawtucket . While with Pawtucket, he hit .304 with 13 homers. He got the chance to play for more than one week in the Major Leagues this sign– he appeared in 9 games with Boston, getting 17 at-bats. he couldn't translate his minor league success into the majors, as he hit only .118.
Also not surprisingly, he was granted free agency. He was picked up by
Pittsburgh . In 2004, Abad hit .292 with 15 homers.
He was then released, and picked up by the
Cleveland Indians . He played the
2005 season with the Triple-A
Buffalo Bisons . During the 2005 season, he hit .293 with a career high 20 home runs.
In 2006, he was on the Cincinnati Reds opening day 25 man roster.
- Pitched in one game in 1996 , two games 2002 , and one game in 2005 . In 5 2/3 innings, he's given up 3 runs, and has struck out two.
- Made his ML debut on September 10 , 2001 , one day before the terrorist attacks.
