Eric Karros #23

Eric joined the Cubs in a December 2002 trade after spending his entire professional career in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization ... he will enter the 2003 campaign needing 24 RBI to reach the 1,000 mark for his major league career...in 1,601 games for the Dodgers, he batted .268 with 302 doubles, 270 homers and 976 RBI... his homer total ranks 3rd on the Dodger franchise's all-time list behind Duke Snider (389) and Gil Hodges (361) ... also finished his Dodgers career ranking in that club's all-time Top 10 in doubles (8th), total bases (8th --2,740), extra-base hits (5th --582), RBI (6th) and games (10th). .. his homer total was the highest for a Dodgers player since the club moved to Los Angeles in 1958...the 1992 National League Rookie of the Year had five 100-RBI seasons for the Dodgers and five 30-homer campaigns ... had six 25-plus RBI months, including a career-best 28 in May 2000... won four N.L. Player of the Week awards with Los Angeles ... his career honors also include being named to The Sporting News' all-star team and to the Silver Slugger team following the 1995 campaign...is a 1985 graduate of Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, CA... attended the University of California-Los Angeles, receiving a bachelor's degree in economics in 1993...began his UCLA baseball career as a walk-on in 1986 ... was an all-Pac 10 Conference performer in 1987-1988 and a third-team Baseball America all-America selection in 1988...has endowed a baseball scholarship at UCLA since 1994... is an honorary member of the board of directors of the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, CA ... holds an annual celebrity golf tournament at Palos Verdes (CA) Country Club to raise funds for the center... with the Dodgers, he chaired the club's 65 Roses Club to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research... was named the Big Brother of the Year by Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles in 1995...has appeared on several television shows -- including Arli$$ and Chicago Hope -- and has played in the MTV Rock 'n Jock celebrity softball game.

2003

Karros spent the 2003 season with the Chicago Cubs after 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers...appeared in 114 games during his first season with the Cubs and batted .286 with 12 homers and 40 RBI...started 84 games at first base, batting .297 in his starts (92--310) with 16 doubles, 10 homers and 36 RBI...went 17-for-88 in his final 32 games (starting August 8)...in his previous 32 contests (June 21-August 7), he had batted .368 (42-114)...made his Cubs debut as a pinch hitter Opening Day (March 31) at New York ...made his first Cubs start April 2 at New York and picked up his first hit with the club -- a single off David Weathers...hit his first homer as a Cub April 27, a solo shot off Colorado's Darren Oliver ...the roundtripper was the 21st of his career at Coors Field...on June 7 vs. the Yankees, his 3-run 7th-inning homer off Juan Acevedo keyed the Cubs' 5-2 victory ...the roundtripper gave Kerry Wood his 50th career win -- and saddled Rogers Clemens who was seeking his 300th career victory -- with the loss...his solo homer June 16 off Cincinnati's Jimmy Anderson was the game-winning shot in a 4-3 contest ...the homer followed a game--tying Moises Alou roundtripper...went 4-for-5 June 21 vs. the White Sox in his 11th career 4-hit affair...scored a career--high 4 runs in the Cubs' 16-2 victory at Florida July 20...recorded the 1,000th RBI of his major league career July 27, hitting a solo home run off Houston's Jeriome Robertson.

2002

Eric appeared in 142 games in his final campaign with Los Angeles and hit .271 with 13 homers and 73 RBI ... the batting average was his highest mark since the 1999 campaign (when he hit .304)... batted .301 with 6 homers and 62 RBI with runners in scoring position -- including a .360 mark with runners on third base... hit .317 vs. left-handed pitching... made his ninth major league Opening Day start April 2 vs. San Francisco...drove in a season-high 4 runs June 3 at Colorado -- the 29th time he had at least 4 RBI in a game... over a 3-game span June 2-June 4, he had 10 RBI... had a career-best .997 fielding percentage at first base, committing just 4 errors...underwent arthroscopic surgery October 4 in which Dr. Lewis Yocum cleaned out scar tissue in his left shoulder.

2001

Eric was limited due to a lower back injury, as he played in just 121 games ... batted .235 with 15 homers and 63 RBI ... missed most of spring training because of stiffness in his lower back ... after hitting .232 in 41 games, he went on the disabled list May 22-June 15 with a lower back strain ... committed 4 errors in 1,038 total chances at first base (.996 fielding percentage).

2000

Played in 155 games and batted .250 with 31 homers and 106 RBI ... reached both the 30-homer mark and the 100-RBI plateau for the fifth time... became the Los Angeles Dodgers all-time home run king June 13 when he hit his 229th career homer (off Arizona's Matt Mantei), breaking a tie with Ron Cey... finished the year with 242 homers, tying Roy Campanella for 3rd place on the franchise's all-time list...on August 22 vs. Montreal, he became the first player in Dodgers history to homer twice in the same inning -- connecting in the 6th inning off Julio Santana and Anthony Telford...along with it being his 17th career 2-homer game, he reached the 500 mark in career extra-base hits ... was just the third Los Angeles Dodger to accomplish that feat, joining Tommy Davis and Steve Garvey...also had a 2-homer, 5-RBI contest May 14 at St. Louis...hit his second career grand slam Opening Day (April 3) off Montreal's Scott Strickland...had 47 RBI in his first 47 games -- including a career-best 28-RBI month in May...had his 10th career 4-hit game May 21 at Florida.

1999

Had his best overall season at the plate, batting a career-high .304 with 34 homers and 112 RBI... reached the .300 mark for the first time during his big league career by hitting .492 over his last 15 games (29-59) with 13 multi-hit contests... earned N.L. Player of the Week honors for the fourth time during his career for the week ending September 26, as he went 11-for-23 with 11 RBI... had the best homer month of his career in July, going deep 12 times... over a 15-game stretch July 4-July 22, he had 9 homers and 22 RBI ... had 5 RBI July 4 vs. San Francisco, 2 homers July 8 at Colorado, 2 homers and 5 RBI July 17 at Anaheim, 4 RBI July 19 at Pittsburgh and 2 homers and 4 RBI July 22 vs. Colorado... over a 4-game span August 8-August 11, he had a pair of 4-RBI games and a 6-RBI contest... hit his first career grand slam August 11 at Montreal (off Anthony Telford), going 3-for-5 with 6 RBI in a 9-7 victory... as part of a 4-hit game April 9 vs. Colorado, he tied a Dodgers record with 3 doubles... hit his 200th big league homer July 25 off Arizona's Randy Johnson.

1998

Hit .296 with 23 homers in 139 games after opening the campaign on the disabled list... underwent arthroscopic surgery March 24 to repair cartilage damage in his left knee ... returned to the active list April 25... had his best month of the campaign in June, hitting .295 with 7 homers and 27 RBI... during a 4-game series in Colorado June 18-June 21, he drove in 13 runs -- including a 5-RBI game June 18 and a 2-homer/4-RBI affair June 21... had 10 total bases August 23 against Greg Maddux, going 3-for-5 with a double, 2 homers and 5 RBI against the Atlanta right-hander.

1997

Had his third consecutive 30-homer/100-RBI season, going deep 31 times while driving in 104 runs ... tied for the league lead by seeing action in 162 games, playing in all but 11 innings... joined Mike Piazza (40), Todd Zeile (31) and Raul Mondesi (30) in becoming the fifth foursome in big league history to reach the 30-homers mark... led the majors with 10 interleague homers.

1996

Batted .260 with 34 homers and 111 RBI in 154 games ... became the first Dodgers first baseman to have back-to-back 30-homer/100-RBI seasons since Gil Hodges (1953-1954)... hit his 100th career homer June 9 off Cincinnati's Dave Burba... homered in 4 consecutive contests June 28-July 1... drew a career-high 4 walks August 27 at Montreal... saw Division Series action for the second straight year.

1995

Was named to The Sporting News' postseason all-star team and to the Silver Slugger squad after finishing the year with a .298 average, 32 homers and 105 RBI ... had 18 game-winning RBI... ranked 4th in the N.L. in both RBI and total bases (295) and 5th in home runs... had a career-high 17-game hitting streak May 16-June 2, going 19-for-65 (.292) with 7 homers...earned N.L. Player of the Week honors twice in three weeks... during the week of July 24-July 30, which began with a 4-hit contest July 24 at Houston, he went 10-for-24 with 6 RBI.<..during the week ending August 13, he went 10-for-26 with 4 homers and 12 RBI...went to the postseason for the first time, going 6-for-12 against Cincinnati in the Division Series ... homered twice in Game 2, driving in all 4 Dodgers runs in a 5-4 loss.

1994

Hit .266 with 14 homers in 111 games during the strike-shortened season... had 11 sacrifice flies, the 2nd-highest total in the N.L... had 29 multi-hit contests -- including a 4-for-5 game July 25 at San Francisco with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBI.

1993

Became the first player in Dodgers franchise history to reach the 20-homers mark in his first two big league seasons, going deep 23 times ... had 80 RBI and a .247 average in 158 games... had his first M.L. 2-homer contest May 24, going deep twice off San Diego's Greg Harris... slugged a pair of 3-run homers in his first career 6-RBI affair August 24 vs. Pittsburgh... led big league first basemen with 147 assists.

1992

Was named the N.L. Rookie of the Year after hitting .257 with 20 homers and 88 RBI in 149 games ... received 22 of the 24 first-place votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America... also was chosen as the league's Rookie of the Year by Baseball America and The Sporting News... his homer total tied for the 4th-highest rookie total in Dodgers history... began the campaign in a three-man platoon at first base with Kal Daniels and Todd Benzinger ... was awarded the starting job May 24 -- and started the final 124 games of the season... in his season debut April 9 at San Diego, he hit his first M.L. homer off Craig Lefferts... earned N.L. Player of the Week honors for July 27-August 2, driving in 10 runs in 7 games... went 10-for-16 with the bases loaded with 19 RBI -- including a 3-run triple July 2 vs. Philadelphia... hit his first pinch homer May 23, a 3-run blast off Pittsburgh's Stan Belinda in Los Angeles' 5-4 win... participated in the major league all-star tour to Japan after the season.

1991

Made his big league debut in September after spending the minor league campaign at Albuquerque (AAA) ... went 1-for-14 in his first 14 M.L. games... was recalled from Triple-A September 1 and made his debut as a defensive replacement that day against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium... his first M.L. hit was a game-tying pinch-hit double off Milt Hill in the 12th inning of Los Angeles' 6-5 victory over Cincinnati September 16... was named the Dodgers' minor league Player of the Year after hitting .316 with 22 homers and 101 RBI in 132 games for Albuquerque...led all Dodgers minor leaguers in RBI, doubles (33), runs scored (88), total bases (269) and slugging percentage (.551) ... his total bases and extra-base hit (63) figures led the Pacific Coast League... was selected to Baseball America's Triple-A all-star team.

1990

Earned Texas League all-star honors at San Antonio (AA), leading the league with a .352 average in 131 games ... his batting average ranked 2nd among all full-season minor league players...also ranked 1st in the league in total bases (282), extra-base hits (65), hits (179) and doubles (45) while tying for the league lead in games ... led all minor leaguers in hits and doubles.

1989

Was a California League all-star at Bakersfield (A), where he hit .303 with 40 doubles, 15 homers and 86 RBI ... was selected as the league's Rookie of the Year and earned Baseball America Class-A all-star honors... ranked 1st in the league in games (142), hits (165) and doubles.

1988

Began his professional career with the Dodgers' Great Falls (Rookie) club, batting .366 with 12 homers and 55 RBI in 66 games.