Marlon Anderson

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Marlon Anderson
Los Angeles Dodgers — No. 21
Second base
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
September 8, 1998 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Selected MLB statistics
(through 2006)
Batting average     .267
Home runs     59
RBI     334
Teams

    Marlon Ordell Anderson is a Major League Baseball infielder who was born on January 16, 1974 in Montgomery, Alabama.

    Contents

    [edit] High School Years

    Anderson attended Prattville High School in Prattville, Alabama and was a student and a letterman in football and baseball.

    [edit] College Years

    Anderson attended the University of South Alabama. As a senior, he posted a .357 batting average with thirteen home runs, and was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and a Baseball America first team All-American.

    [edit] Pro Career

    Anderson was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the second round of the 1995 amateur draft. In 1998, while playing for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, he was named the International League Rookie of the Year. On September 8 of the same year, he made his major league debut as a pinch hitter, hitting a home run off Mel Rojas of the New York Mets.

    Anderson was the Phillies starting second baseman in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In 2003, because neither his offense nor his defense were considered exceptional, Placido Polanco subsequently replaced him as the Phillies second baseman (also Chase Utley was then a top prospect of the Phillies' AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons); Anderson was not offered a contract by the Phillies and signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In 2004, Anderson signed with the St. Louis Cardinals and filled a niche as a utility infielder. He also became known for his skill at pinch hitting, tying for the National League lead in pinch hits with 17 that year.

    In 2005 Anderson signed with the New York Mets, where he served as a pinch hitter. Anderson batted over .300 in pinch-hit situations. Anderson’s Met highlight occurred during an interleague game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Saturday June 11, 2005 when he tied the score in the ninth inning with an inside the park home run off Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. The ball caromed away from center fielder Steve Finley, who ran it down in right-center field as Anderson circled the bases. Anderson barely beat the play at the plate, colliding face-first into catcher Bengie Molina's mask.

    On November 18, 2005, Anderson signed a two-year contract with the Washington Nationals. His contract ensured that the only two big leaguers ever to be named Marlon (the other is Marlon Byrd) would be teammates on the 2006 Nationals.

    On the night of August 31, 2006, Anderson was traded by the Nationals to the Los Angeles Dodgers after scoring the winning run in a 6-5 thriller against the Phillies in Washington. At the time, Washington had been struggling for much of the season and was not a playoff factor while the Dodgers appeared to be headed for the playoffs with the NL West division crown. Anderson was brought in in hopes to assist in the Dodgers' playoff push.

    Anderson is married and has two children. He resides in Sugar Land, Texas.

    [edit] External links

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