Quintin Berry

Quintin Berry
Baltimore Orioles
Outfielder
Born: (1984-11-21) November 21, 1984 San Diego, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 23, 2012 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics (through 2013 season)
Batting average	.268
Home runs	3
Runs batted in	33
Hits	80
Stolen bases	24
Teams
Detroit Tigers (2012) Boston Red Sox (2013)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2013)

Quintin Lonell Berry (born November 21, 1984) is a professional baseball outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles organization. While his primary position is center field, he has mostly played left field in the major leagues.

Early career

Berry played prep baseball at Morse High School in San Diego, California, where he also played football and basketball. He was a classmate and teammate of current Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, and the two remain good friends.^[1]

Berry played one season of baseball at Grossmont Junior College before moving on to San Diego State University (SDSU). Berry's head coach at SDSU was former major leaguer and Baseball Hall of Fame member Tony Gwynn.^[2] He was named to the All-Mountain West Conference first team in 2005 and the second team in 2006.^[3]

Minor league career

Berry was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 25th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft out of high school, but did not sign. He was drafted three years later in the fifth round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, with whom he signed within 48 hours.^[4]

Berry played in the Phillies minor league system for 4½ seasons before being designated for assignment on July 12, 2010.^[5] He was claimed on waivers by the San Diego Padres two days later and spent the remainder of the 2010 season playing for the Double-A San Antonio Missions.

On December 10, 2010, Berry was claimed by the New York Mets from the Padres in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. The Mets released Berry during spring training in 2011.

On April 21, 2011 Berry signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. He spent a majority of the season playing for the Carolina Mudcats in the Double-A Southern League. He made his Triple-A debut that same year, appearing in four games with the Louisville Bats.^[6]

On November 9, 2011 Berry signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. He was assigned to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens following spring training in 2012.^[7]

Before Opening Day 2013, Berry was sent down to the Triple-A Toledo. On June 2, 2013, Berry was designated for assignment by the Tigers.^[8] He was then claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals, who optioned him to Triple-A Omaha.^[9]

Berry signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles on January 3, 2014.

Major League career

Berry's contract was purchased by the Tigers on May 23, 2012, and he was added to the 25-man roster.^[10] He made his debut the same day, replacing an injured Austin Jackson in centerfield and batting leadoff.^[11] His first MLB hit came in the form of a rare bunt double.^[12]

Berry became the first Detroit Tigers player since 1918 to hit safely in his first six games as a Tiger.^[13] On June 17, 2012, Berry became just the third Tigers rookie to have five hits in a game since 1999. Seven days later, on June 24, 2012, he hit his first big-league home run in a 3–2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Berry was added to the Tigers postseason roster following the conclusion of the 2012 regular season.^[14]

Berry was named the Tigers-Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year for 2012. Berry led the major leagues in stolen base percentage with a 100% success rate (21 for 21 in the regular season and two for two in the playoffs). He also finished 10th in the American League in triples with six.^[4]

He participated in the 2012 World Series, which pitted the Tigers against the San Francisco Giants. Berry played in all four games and was hitless in eight at-bats, drawing a single base on balls^[4] as the Giants swept Detroit.^[15] Berry was named 2012 Detroit Tigers Rookie of the Year by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association following the season.

Before the 2013 season, Berry entered spring training in competition for a spot on the Tigers 25-man roster. On March 27, he was optioned to the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers Triple-A minor league affiliate. Berry hit .323 (10-for-31) with seven RBIs, three walks and six strikeouts in Grapefruit League play, but had also missed some time due to patellar tendinitis.^[16][17]

Berry began the 2013 season playing for the Toledo Mud Hens. However, Berry was designated for assignment when Detroit traded for Francisco Martínez to make room for Martínez on the 40 man roster.^[18] On June 4, the Kansas City Royals claimed Berry off waivers and assigned him to their Triple-A minor league affiliate the Omaha Storm Chasers.^[19]

On August 27, 2013, Berry was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Clayton Mortensen.^[20] He appeared in only 13 regular season games for the Red Sox, but was added to the postseason roster for his base-stealing abilities. Berry made 3 pinch-running appearances in the 2013 postseason and went 3 for 3 in stolen base attempts, earning his first career World Series ring when the Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals for the title.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• San Diego State Aztecs bio