Eric Chavez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Oakland Athletics — No. 3 | |
| Third baseman | |
| Born: December 7, 1977 Los Angeles, California |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 8, 1998 for the Oakland Athletics | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through June 4, 2008) |
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| Batting average | .269 |
| Home runs | 228 |
| Runs batted in | 765 |
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| Highlights and awards | |
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Eric Cesar Chavez (pronounced CHA-vez) (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 Gold Glove Awards (2001-2005), and has suprisingly never been selected for the All-Star team.
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[edit] 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 RBIs and 33 stolen bases en route to his second All-American selection.[1]
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Minor Leagues
Eric Chavez's high school success was such that in the 1996 amateur draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the first round with the tenth pick.[2] Chavez eventually chose a professional baseball career over college, 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 class 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 RBIs.[3] Before the start of the 1998 season, Chavez was promoted to the Class AA Huntsville Stars.[3] After 88 games, he had a batting average of .328, 28 home runs, 86 RBIs, 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]
[edit] 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 average resulting in him being named the American League Player of the Month for the only time in his career.
Through 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 ten years with the A's, Chavez has played 1256 games and batted .269. He has 227 home runs and 762 runs batted in. For his career, Chavez has 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 on May 29.
[edit] Awards
He has won the American League Gold Glove Award at third base every year from 2001 through 2006 and won the American League Silver Slugger Award at third base in 2002.[1]
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Chavez's contract has language in it that during certain games throughout the season, GM Billy Beane has to care for his 2 dogs
- Eric and his wife, Alex, have a son named Diego and a daughter named Dulce.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Eric Chavez Player Information : Biography and Career Highlights. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
- ^ a b c d Eric Chavez statistics - Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ a b c d Eric Chavez Statistics - the Baseball Cube. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ a b c Eric Chavez : 1998 Career Highlights. Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
- ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_player.jsp?playerID=136767&statType=1. Eric Chavez's Player Stats
| Preceded by Jermaine Dye |
American League Player of the Month September, 2001 |
Succeeded by Torii Hunter |
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
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