Luke Hughes
| Luke Hughes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Perth Heat – No. 32 | |
| Infielder | |
|
Born: 2 August 1984 Perth, Western Australia | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| 28 April, 2010 for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Career statistics (through 2012 season) | |
| Batting average | .218 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 33 |
| Teams | |
Luke Trevor Hughes (born August 2, 1984) is an Australian professional baseball infielder who is currently a free agent.
Career
Australian career
Hughes played the 2001/2002 season in the International Baseball League of Australia, where he was named as the All-Star second baseman.
He helped the Perth Heat win the 2003 Claxton Shield with a .429 batting average. He also won the Golden Glove in the 2004 Claxton Shield. He currently plays for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League and grew up playing for the Morley Eagles Baseball Club.
American career
He was then signed to the Minnesota Twins early 2002. He debuted professionally a year later with the GCL Twins, reaching base safely in 19 straight games at one point. He was named to the Gulf Coast League All-Star team at third base. In 2004, he moved to the Elizabethton Twins and played second base.
After two seasons with the New Britain Rock Cats and appearances for the 2007 and 2008 Eastern League All-Star team, he was promoted to AAA with the Rochester Red Wings. He also played in the 2008 All-Star Futures Game and was the only Australian that played for the World team.
On 24 April 2010 he was called up to the Minnesota Twins Major League roster as Nick Punto was sent to the DL.
On 28 April 2010 he debuted for the Twins at third base. In his first Major League at bat he hit a home run against Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer. In comparison, hitting a first at bat home run is twice as rare as throwing a no-hitter. Hughes' home run was calculated to have gone 360 feet.[1] He is the 106th person in MLB history to homer in his first major league at-bat dating back to 1855 (less than once per season: .68), and was the 2nd to do so during the 2010 season (the first was Jason Heyward). Four other Twins have homered in their first at-bat: Rick Renick (1968), Dave McKay (1975), Gary Gaetti (1981) and Andre David (1984).
On 22 April 2012 he was claimed off of waivers by the Oakland Athletics to make room on the Twins roster for RHP Jason Marquis. However, 8 days later, Hughes was designated for assignment when Brandon Inge was signed. Hughes was 1-13 in 4 games with Oakland while striking out 6 times.[2] He was released on 17 July.
Toronto Blue Jays signed Hughes on 1 August 2012 and assigned him to their AAA affiliate Las Vegas 51s.
International career
Hughes played for Australia in the 2005 Baseball World Cup where he batted 1 for 15. Again he played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic going 0 from 3. In 2006 he picked up his form in the Intercontinental Cup, the Australian batted .455 and slugged .755. In 5 games at second and four at third, he was error-free.
Hughes hit .333 for Australia in the 2007 Baseball World Cup. Hughes tied a game against the Dutch national team with a 9th-inning sacrifice fly. Against the Venezuelan national team, Luke cracked a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to win the game. He broke open a tie game against Team Canada in the top of the 9th with a double and the go-ahead run. America's Jayson Nix beat him out for All-Star honors at second base in the tournament.
Awards and Highlights
- Home Run in first major league at-bat
References
- ↑ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100428&content_id=9653204&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
- ↑ Sinker, Howard (30 April 2012). "The Luke Hughes Era in Oakland is over". Minneapolis Star Tribune.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
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