| Brennan Boesch | |
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Boesch at Camden Yards in April 2011 |
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| Detroit Tigers – No. 26 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: April 12, 1985 Santa Monica, California |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| April 23, 2010 for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Career statistics (through 2011) |
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| Batting average | .269 |
| Home runs | 30 |
| Runs batted in | 121 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Brennan Philip Boesch (born April 12, 1985) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Detroit Tigers of [[Major League Baseball. He is 6' 4" and weighs 235 pounds. Boesch won the American League Rookie of the Month Award the first two full months he was in the major leagues.
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Boesch played high school baseball at Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, alongside future major leaguer Josh Satin.[1][2] As a junior, Baseball America ranked him one of the top 25 prospects in the country.[3] In his senior year he batted .490 with seven home runs.[3]
Boesch played three years of college baseball at the University of California, Berkeley from 2004–06. He was awarded All-Pac-10 first team honors as a sophomore.[4] He was co-winner of the 2005 Clint Evans Award as the team's most valuable player (along with his former high school teammate who joined him at Berkeley, Josh Satin).[5]
Following his junior season, he was drafted in the third round of 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers. Boesch also spent time in the Cape Cod League in the summers of 2004 and 2005.[6]
Boesch began his minor league career in 2006 with the short season Oneonta Tigers. He spent full seasons with the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps in 2007 and the Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2008. Boesch played for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves in 2009 and led the Eastern League in home runs (28), and finished third in RBIs (93) and strikeouts (127).[7] He also added 15 assists from right field[8] and was named to the Eastern League's mid and postseason All-Star teams.[9] Boesch was added to the Tigers 40-man roster and started the 2010 season with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens before he was called up early in the season.[9]
The Tigers called up Boesch from the Mud Hens to replace the injured Carlos Guillén on April 23, 2010.[10] Boesch made his major league debut the same day in a game against the Texas Rangers. Boesch hit a double off the left-field wall on the first pitch in his first major league at-bat.[11]
Boesch hit his first major league home run—a grand slam off Los Angeles Angels pitcher Joel Pineiro—on April 30. Coming in the same inning as Scott Sizemore's first career home run, it was the first time two Tigers had hit their first career home runs in the same inning since Pop Dillon and Kid Elberfeld did it in 1901.[12]
Boesch was named the American League Rookie of the Month for May and June 2010.[13][14]
While Boesch had a hot start to his rookie season, he ended the second half in a slump.[15] In the second half of the season, he had a .216 batting average with two home runs and 18 runs batted in, compared to his first half, where he batted .342 with 12 home runs and 49 runs batted in. On defense, in 2010 he led all major league outfielders in errors, with 10.[16]
At the start of the 2011 Season, Boesch won the starting job at right field, sharing time with Casper Wells. He started off hot and only slowed down slightly, putting together a decent second half until he injured his thumb, which eventually required surgery, ending his season. He played in 115 games, batting with more power at .283 with 16 home runs and 54 runs batted in.
On June 6th in a game against the Texas Rangers at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, he went 5 for 6 with two home runs and five runs batted in. We was awarded with the 6th "Top Game Ranking" award on ESPN's website.