Xavier Nady

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**Xavier Nady**

Pittsburgh Pirates — No. 22
Right fielder
Born: November 14, 1978 (1978-11-14) (age 29)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
September 30, 2000 for the San Diego Padres
Selected MLB statistics (through 2008)
Batting Average	.278
Home runs	71
Runs Batted In	271
Teams
San Diego Padres (2000, 2003-2005) New York Mets (2006) Pittsburgh Pirates (2006-present)

Xavier Clifford Nady (born November 14, 1978 in Salinas, California) is a Major League Baseball right fielder/first baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The St. Louis Cardinals originally drafted Nady in the 4th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft (134th overall) after he was named Northern California Player of the Year in his senior year of high school but he did not sign professionally at that time. After attending UC Berkeley, where he set the all-time Pac-10 Conference record for career slugging percentage (.729), Nady was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2000 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres (49th overall). Nady signed a major league contract and became the 18th player to go directly to the major leagues without making his professional debut in the minor leagues since 1965. Nady only appeared in one game and spent extensive time in the minor leagues following his debut. He was named Padres Minor League Player of the Year in 2001, also collecting the California League's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards that season. Nady underwent Tommy John surgery and had limited playing time in 2002. In 2003, he again returned to the major league level for part of the season but continued to spend more time in the minor leagues.

He has shown power to all fields in his limited MLB playing time (in 326 at bats in 2005 he hit 13 home runs). In late June, Nady became the first Padre since Greg Vaughn (in 1998) to homer in four consecutive games.

The Padres traded long time first baseman Phil Nevin to the Texas Rangers (for pitcher Chan Ho Park) in order to give Nady more playing time. However, the team traded him to the New York Mets for Mike Cameron on November 18, 2005.

On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Nady was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation. Nady underwent an emergency appendectomy early in the morning on May 30, 2006; he was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and returned to the lineup on June 18.

During his major league career with both the Padres and Mets, Nady has worn uniform number 22, with the Pirates his uniform number was changed to 25 for a brief stint before his number was again changed, this time back to his original number 22.

On July 31, 2006, a trade was initiated by the New York Mets in regard to reliever Duaner Sanchez being injured the night before in a traffic accident. This trade meant Xavier Nady would go to the Pirates in exchange for pitchers Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez. The trade shocked several fans who thought Nady had been a valuable part of the team, slugging 14 HR's and driving in 40 runs in only 75 games. The deal came as such a surprise to certain fans that a band known only as "Kuff and the Buttheads" penned a song "The Ballad of X," a chronicle of his time with the Mets, which garnered mild publicity in baseball blogs, and internet forums.^[1]

On February 24, 2007, it was reported that Nady needed to be tested to determine if he has Crohn's disease.^[2] The tests came back negative for Crohn's, and Nady was instead diagnosed with a minor infection of the small intestines.^[3]

He can be seen hitting a home run as a Met on TV in the background of the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Ironically it was against his current team, The Pittsburgh Pirates, the same year he was traded to them.

He has been give the nickname "The Untie-er" by the Baseball Tonight hosts due to his uncanny ability to break up ties. Although, his nickname since his days in San Diego is the "X-Man".

Xavier Nady was one of the fan favorites at Shea Stadium in such a short time.