B. J. Surhoff

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William James "B.J." Surhoff (born August 4, 1964 in the Bronx, New York City, New York) is an outfielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter in Major League Baseball who last played for the Baltimore Orioles in 2005. Over his major league career, he has played every position except pitcher. He has not played since the 2005 season. After playing for the Orioles from 1996 to 2000, he rejoined the team in 2003 and played through the 2005 season and was always a fan favorite in Baltimore. He started his career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1987-95) and also played for the Atlanta Braves (2000-02). Position wise, Surhoff began his career as a catcher, and after playing third base in the mid-1990s, shifted to become primarily a left fielder.

After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was honored as the 1985 ACC Male Athlete of the Year, and playing for the 1984 Olympic baseball team, Surhoff was selected by the Brewers with the first pick of the 1985 amateur draft. Surhoff was defined as being a very versatile player, having appeared at every position except pitcher over the course of his career. He has 2,326 hits and 1,153 RBIs in his career. Although always a consistent hitter, having hit over .280 in 12 of his 19 seasons, Surhoff's finest season was his 1999 campaign with the Orioles, in which he led the American League in at-bats (673), ranked 2nd in hits (207), was selected to the American League All-Star team, and ultimately won Most Valuable Oriole honors for the season, becoming one of 5 players to get 200 or more hits in a season for the team. In other notable seasons he finished 6th in the AL in doubles in 1993 with the Brewers and finished 5th in batting average in the AL with the Brewers in 1995 with a .320 average.

The Orioles declined to offer Surhoff arbitration for 2006. However Surhoff has not announced retirement.

In 2007, Surhoff was elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame, with the official induction ceremony occurring before the start of the Orioles-Twins game on August 25, 2007 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

[edit] Personal

The Junkies, a group of Baltimore/Washington morning-drive radio hosts, use "Surhoff" as a euphemism for fellatio.

His father Dick Surhoff played two years in the NBA in 1952-53 and 1953-54 and his brother Rick Surhoff appeared in 9 games in 1985 as a relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Texas Rangers.

[edit] See also

• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters

[edit] External links

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