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- This article is about the baseball player; see also Geoff Jenkins (climatologist).
Geoff Jenkins (born July 21, 1974 in Olympia, Washington) is an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies. He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1998 until 2007.
[edit] High school
Jenkins attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He was selected for the all-state baseball team as a junior and senior before graduating in 1992. [1]
[edit] College career
At USC, Jenkins had a standout career from 1993 through 1995. In his final season, he batted .399 with 78 RBI and a .748 slugging percentage in 70 games, also scoring 75 runs to tie the school record held by Rich Dauer and Mark McGwire; his 23 home runs and 193 total bases ranked second in school history behind McGwire's 1984 totals of 32 and 216. He led the Trojans to the College World Series, where they reached the championship game; Jenkins was named to the all-CWS team, and also earned team co-MVP honors and was named a consensus All-American. In 1996, the year of the CWS' 50th tournament, Jenkins was named to the all-decade team for the 1990s. He finished his USC career with a .369 batting average, 45 home runs (second only to McGwire's 54), a .652 slugging percentage, 180 runs, and school records for runs batted in (175) and total bases (444). The Brewers selected him with the 9th pick of the first round in the 1995 amateur draft.
[edit] Professional career
Jenkins had a strong start to his career with the Brewers. On April 24, 1998, he hit a home run off of Orel Hershiser in his first career plate appearance against the San Francisco Giants. He is the second player in Milwaukee baseball history (Chuck Tanner, 1955, Milwaukee Braves) to accomplish the feat. Jenkins would go on to bat over .300 in his 2nd and 3rd seasons, driving in 90 or more runs three times for one of the perennially weaker teams in the league. His 2002 season was cut short when on June 17 in a game against the Houston Astros he suffered a horrific-looking dislocated ankle when sliding into 3rd base feet first during a game. He was safe on the play. He was selected to the National League's All-Star team in 2003 via the MLB's All-Star Final Vote contest where a player is selected from both leagues by fans to join their respective team after the initial roster is announced. On June 8th, 2004, he became the 8th player in major league history to strike out six times in a single game. After playing in left field for virtually his entire career, he moved to right field for the 2005 and 2006 seasons when Milwaukee acquired Carlos Lee. In 2006 Jenkins experienced a prolonged offensive slump, struggling in particular against left-handed pitching. In August of 2006 the Brewers benched Jenkins, one of their highest-paid players at the time, in favor of the younger Corey Hart. In 2007 Jenkins returned to left field to platoon with Kevin Mench. On October 30, 2007, the Brewers officially declined their $9 million option on Jenkins' contract, making him a free agent for the 2008 season.[1]
On December 20, 2007 he signed a two year, $13 million deal with a vesting option for 2010 with the Philadelphia Phillies[2].
[edit] Trivia
- Jenkins is 2nd on the Brewers all-time career home run list trailing only Hall-of-Famer Robin Yount.
- In 2000, Geoff was the Brewers' team MVP. He led the Brewers in batting average (.303) and home runs (34).
- Jenkins is occasionally mistaken for Brett Favre and has had fans pay for his dinner thinking he was the former Packers star.
- Jenkins returned to Miller Park in a Phillies uniform on April 23, 2008 to a crowd of just over 30,000. He was welcomed back with a tribute video, highlighting his ten-year career with the Brewers, and the standing ovation that followed. He received a second ovation while leading off the second inning. Philadelphia would go on to lose the game, 5-4. He went 0 for 3, with a walk and a stolen base.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External link
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