Curtis Granderson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Granderson on deck against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 4, 2007 |
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| Detroit Tigers — No. 28 | |
| Center fielder | |
| Born: March 16, 1981 Blue Island, Illinois |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 13, 2004 for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through May 21, 2008) |
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| Batting average | .277 |
| Home runs | 56 |
| Runs batted in | 177 |
| Triples | 37 |
| Teams | |
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| Highlights and awards | |
Curtis Granderson (born March 16, 1981, in Blue Island, Illinois) is a center fielder in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers. Granderson grew up in Lynwood, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago.
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[edit] High school career
Granderson attended high school at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing, Illinois. As a senior in 1999, Granderson hit .427 and was selected SICA Central All-Conference, as well earning All-Area recognition from the Illinois Times and the Daily Southtown.
[edit] College career
As a freshman at University of Illinois-Chicago in 2000, Granderson led the team with 7 home runs and 45 walks. He followed that with a strong sophomore season in which he hit .304, leading the team in runs, home runs and walks. Granderson was named Second-Team All-American by Baseball America and USA Today's Baseball Weekly and a Third-Team Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American following his junior season. He graduated with degrees in business administration and advertising.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Minor leagues
Having been drafted by the Tigers in the third round of the 2002 draft, Granderson started his minor league career with the Oneonta Tigers where he hit an impressive .344 in 52 games. The following season he again posted solid numbers, this time with the Erie Seawolves, hit his best minor league season, hitting .303 with 21 home runs and 93 RBI. In addition, he was named to the Eastern League's post-season all-star squad and made Baseball America's Double A all-star team, earning him a late season call-up to the Tigers where he made his major league debut on September 13 against the Minnesota Twins.
Granderson started the 2005 season with the Toledo Mud Hens where he again posted terrific numbers, hitting .290 with 15 home runs, 65 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. In September he was again called to the majors and had an inside-the-park home run September 15, a five-hit game September 18 and a walkoff homer on September 26 against the Chicago White Sox.
[edit] Detroit Tigers
[edit] 2006
Granderson became the Tigers starting center fielder for the 2006 season after beating out then teammate Nook Logan for the position during spring training. From the start of his major league career in 2004, Granderson had the longest errorless streak by a position player to start his career since Dave Roberts went 205 games from 1999-2003. He ended up hitting 2 home runs during the playoffs.
[edit] 2007
Although Granderson was not listed on the 2007 All-Star Game ballot, due to the Tigers' decision to put Gary Sheffield as an outfielder on the ballot, he still received 376,033 write-in votes, the most write-in votes for any player in the Majors.[1]
Granderson was named the American League Player of the Week on July 16 2007, the first time he had won the award. During the week ending July 15, 2007, Granderson hit .500 (8-16) with two doubles, a triple, and a home run. Granderson slugged .938, drove in two runs, scored seven runs, and had fifteen total bases during Detroit's four-game series at Seattle.[2]
On August 7, 2007, Granderson became the second player in franchise history to have at least 30 doubles, 15 triples, 15 home runs, and 10 stolen bases in a single season when he hit a double in a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The other Tiger to accomplish this feat was Charlie Gehringer in 1930.
On September 7, 2007, Granderson became the 6th member all-time of baseball's exclusive 20-20-20 Club. Granderson joined the 20-20-20 club with Kansas City's George Brett (1979), Willie Mays of the New York Giants (1957), Cleveland's Jeff Heath (1941), St. Louis' Jim Bottomley (1928), and Frank Schulte of the Chicago Cubs (1911).
On September 9, 2007 Granderson stole his 20th base of the season and joined Willie Mays and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte as the only players in major league history to reach 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases in a season, a feat accomplished by the Philadelphia Phillies' Jimmy Rollins 21 days later.[3] Schulte was the first to accomplish the feat in 1911 while playing for the Chicago Cubs and Mays did it in 1957 with the New York Giants.[4]
In 2007, he hit .302 with 23 home runs, and was 26 for 27 in stolen base attempts. He was one of only six batters in the AL to have at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, along with teammate Gary Sheffield, Ian Kinsler, Alex Rodriguez, Grady Sizemore and B. J. Upton.
The one criticism of Granderson in his young career has been his propensity to strike out a lot at the plate.[citation needed] However, he has improved in this area. After leading the American League with 174 whiffs in 2006, he dropped to seventh in the AL in 2007 (141 strikeouts).
[edit] 2008
On February 4 2008, the Tigers signed Granderson to a five-year, $30.25 million deal with a club option for 2013.[5]
On March 23, 2008, Granderson was placed on the 15-day DL with a broken finger on his right hand. Granderson broke his finger on March 22, 2008 when Travis Blackley hit him with a fastball.
[edit] Triples
During the 2007 season, Granderson accumulated 23 triples, which led all of baseball. The American League and Detroit Tigers record is 26 triples, a feat achieved by the all-time triples king, Sam Crawford, in 1914. Granderson is the first player since 1949 to manage at least 23 in a single season.[6] Only 10 of his triples were at home despite the fact Comerica Park has seen more triples since it opened in 2000 than any other ballpark in baseball. Granderson's 23 triples were as much or more than six entire teams managed in 2007, the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals all had no more than 23 team triples.
[edit] Broadcasting
TBS employed Curtis Granderson as a color commentator alongside Cal Ripken, Jr. and Frank Thomas for its coverage of the 2007 baseball postseason.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Official Site of The Detroit Tigers: News: Detroit Tigers News
- ^ The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Official Info: Press Release
- ^ Sports Illustrated, September 24, 2007, p. 51
- ^ Associated Press. "Granderson's 20th steal puts Tigers center fielder in select company", ESPN.com, September 9, 2007. Accessed September 9, 2007.
- ^ The Official Site of The Detroit Tigers: News: Tigers, Granderson agree to deal MLB.com
- ^ baseball-reference.com. Single-Season Leaders & Records for Triples
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
- ESPN Blog
- Official MySpace
- Granderson robs Wily Mo Pena with over-the-wall catch
