Bruce Christensen

Bruce Christensen
Shortstop
Born: (1948-02-22) February 22, 1948 Madison, Wisconsin
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 17, 1971 for the California Angels
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1971 for the California Angels
Career statistics
Batting average	.270
Home runs	0
Runs batted in	3
Teams
California Angels (1971)

Bruce Ray Christensen (born February 22, 1948 in Madison, Wisconsin ) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop for the California Angels. He was drafted by the Angels in the 17th round of the 1966 amateur draft. In his only major league season, 1971, he got into a total of 29 games, 24 at shortstop, and was in the starting lineup 15 times. Most of his starts came when All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi was on the disabled list. Christensen was called up to the Angels after hitting .309 in 82 games for the Salt Lake City Angels of the Pacific Coast League, and made his major league debut on July 17.

He was an excellent defensive player and an adequate hitter at the major league level. At short he made only one error in 81 chances for a fielding percentage of .988, much higher than the league average. He also participated in 13 double plays. At the plate he was 17-for-63 (.270), and his six walks pushed his on-base percentage up to .333. Not a power hitter, he had just one extra base hit (a double), three runs batted in, and four runs scored.

Christensen's best game as a hitter came on July 28, 1971 when he had three hits and a walk in a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Stadium. He scored one run and drove in another.

Christensen has three children (Daniel, Sadie, and Nicholas) and currently lives in Moroni, Utah with his wife Laura.

References

• 1972 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News

External links

• Baseball Reference
• Retrosheet

Persondata
Name	Christensen, Bruce
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball player
Date of birth	February 22, 1948
Place of birth	Madison, Wisconsin
Date of death
Place of death