Ryan Doumit #41

Resides in Moses Lake, WA, with his wife Shana...1999 graduate of Moses Lake (WA) High School, where he played baseball and football...Named first team All-Conference, second team All-American and All-State in baseball ... Contributed $25,000 to Pirates Charities "Fields for Kids" program in 2009...Signed by James House (Pirates) ... Pronounced DOE-mitt.

2013

Completed his ninth season in the majors, his 15th in professional baseball and his second with the Minnesota Twins in 2013, compiling a .247 (120-for-485) batting average with 28 doubles, 14 home runs and 55 RBI in 135 games. Appeared in 135 games, including 119 starts: 47 as the designated hitter, 43 at catcher, 29 in right field. Made his sixth straight opening day start and his second as a Twin on 4/1 vs. DET, going 1-for-5 as the designated hitter. Stroked his 91st career home run on 6/2 vs. SEA, moving him into sole possession (passed Alan Ashby, 90) of seventh place on the all-time home run list by a switch-hitting catcher (credit: Stats, Inc.). Played in his 800th career game 6/12 vs. PHI. Batted .290 (42-for-145) with two home runs and nine RBI off left-handed pitchers compared to .229 (78-for-340) with 12 homers and 46 RBI off right-handed pitchers. In 54 games post-All-Star break, batted .263 (50-for-190) with 11 doubles, five homers and 47 RBI. Hit his final home run (14) of the season and the 99th of his career 9/24 vs. DET. Stole his 11th career base, 5/1 at DET; it was his first since 4/29/10 at LAD (with Pittsburgh). Hit his first home run of the season 5/7 at BOS off Ryan Dempster. The homer marked his 300th career run scored and 350th career RBI. Hit .319 (15-for-47) with five home runs and 16 RBI in an 11-game span, 5/27-6/8.

2012

Played first game as Twin as Opening Day right fielder, batting sixth April 6 at Baltimore, his first Opening Day start in right field. ... Recorded first hit as Twin, singling off C.J. Wilson April 9 vs. Los Angeles-AL. ... Hit first home run as Twin, a sixth inning two-run shot off Phil Hughes April 19 at New York-AL. ... Recorded 12 RBI in 11-game span April 16-29. ... Had fifth career two-homer game May 6 at Seattle. ... Again recorded 12 RBI in 11-game span May 6-16. ... Set season-high and tied career-high with 11-game hitting streak June 16-July 2, including season high four hits June 22 at Cincinnati (7th career four-hit game). ... Hit home runs from both sides of plate for first time in career (sixth career multi-homer game) July 22 at Kansas City, becoming third player in club history to do so, joining Chili Davis (1992) and Roy Smalley (1986). ... Hit 15th home run, matching single-season career-high September 4 at Chicago-AL...hit 16th home run, setting a single-season careerhigh, September 10 vs. Cleveland. ... Tied single-game career-high with four RBI (back-to-back games) September 28-29 vs. Detroit (9th and 10th time); tied single-season career-high with 34th double September 28 vs. Detroit...tied and passed single season career-high with 69th and 70th RBI in same game. ... Hit fourth career grand slam September 29 vs. Detroit off Joaquin Benoit. ... Set single-season career-high with 134 games -- played 59 games at catcher (56 starts), 48 as designated hitter, 16 in left field, six in right field and one at first base. ... Finished in tie with Chili Davis (1991) for most doubles (34) ever by Twins switch hitters, fifth in home runs (18) and RBI (75)...18 home runs ranked third most in club history for catchers (Joe Mauer - 28 in 2009 and Earl Battey - 26 in 1963). ... Ranked seventh in baseball in RBI (75) for switch hitters; fifth in the American League.

2011

Was Pittsburgh's Opening Day catcher for the fourth straight season - the longest streak by a Pirates catcher since Jason Kendall started nine straight openers from 1996-2004...Hit his third career grand slam, off Clayton Richard, May 4 at San Diego...Homered in back-to-back games, May 4 at San Diego and 5 vs. Houston both from the right side of the plate...Suffered a fractured left ankle in a home plate collision with Carlos Pena at Wrigley Field, May 29...was placed on the 15-day disabled list the following day...was batting .269 (25- for-93) with four home runs and 15 rbi in 34 games at the time of his injury...Played five games on rehab assignment with Single-A Bradenton, July 21-26...transferred rehab assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, July 25, playing eight games with Indy before being recalled from rehab and reinstated from the DL, August 3...Batted .328 (41-for-125) with four homers and 15 rbi in 43 games after being reinstated from the disabled list...Tied career-high (sixth time) with four hits on August 15 vs. St. Louis...Led the National League with a .404 (23-for-57) average in September, hitting safely in 11 of his 13 starts...Made 53 starts behind the plate...had four passed balls and six errors (five throwing/one fielding)...finished season with 55 home runs in his career as a Pirates catcher; ranking third on the club's All-Time list behind Jason Kendall (66) and Tony Pena (63).

2010

Set a career high in games played...Made 91 starts behind the plate, 17 in right field, three at first base and one as the designated hitter...Also went 4-for-10 with a homer and three RBI as a pinch hitter...Threw out 6 of the 74 baserunners attempting to steal against him, had nine passed balls and committed six errors behind the plate (four throwing/two fielding)...Picked one runner off first base; Chicago's Mike Fontenot on 5/14 at Wrigley Field...Also made three errors (two fielding/one throwing) while playing right field and one fielding error at first base...Was Pittsburgh's Opening Day catcher for the third straight year...Hit a three-run homer on Opening Day vs. Los Angeles, connecting off lefthander George Sherrill for just his eighth career home run batting right-handed...Hit safely in his first four games (6-for-17, .353) before going 2-for-23 in his next seven thru 4/20...Produced season-high, 10-game hitting streak from 4/21-30 (16-for-34, .471)...Hit second career grand slam on 4/27 at Milwaukee (off Trevor Hoffman)...Homered again the next day off Hoffman as a pinch hitter, tying the game in the 9th inning...Became just the second player ever to homer off Hoffman twice in the same season (also Dante Bichette with Colorado in 1996)...Tallied lone triple (fourth career) on 4/29 at Los Angeles (NL)...Connected off Atlanta's Takashi Saito for first career walkoff home run on 5/23...Had fifth career four-RBI game on 6/5 vs. San Francisco...Made all three starts at first base in three consecutive games from 6/10-12...Hit second home run of the season batting right-handed (ninth career) when he went deep against lefty Ted Lilly in Chicago on 6/30...Was placed on 15-day D.L. on 7/22 due to a concussion...Played four games with Triple-A Indianapolis on a rehab assignment from 8/2-6...Homered in the second game of a doubleheader at Durham on 8/6...Was recalled from rehab and reinstated from D.L. on 8/7...His final home run of the season came on 9/17 vs. Arizona - his 35th career homer at PNC Park which ranks fifth all-time behind Jason Bay (61), Craig Wilson (47), Brian Giles (45) and Aramis Ramirez (38).

2009

Made a team-high 71 starts behind the plate despite missing close to three months of action due to a fractured right wrist...Made second straight Opening Day start behind the plate...Went hitless in first eight at bats before a two-hit performance in third game on 4/8 at St. Louis...Connected off Mike Lincoln for first career grand slam on 4/11 at Cincinnati - also tied career high with four RBI in the game...Homered in the Home Opener on 4/13 vs. Houston...Started each of the first eight games...Singled as a pinch hitter on 4/16 vs. Houston...Doubled three times on 4/18 vs. Atlanta...Injured his right wrist in second at bat on 4/19 vs. Atlanta, but remained in the game...Had an MRI on 4/20 and a CT scan on 4/21 which revealed a fracture of the scaphoid bone...Had surgery on the wrist on 4/23 in Pittsburgh; surgery performed by Dr. Mark Baratz...Had CT scan on wrist in Pittsburgh on 5/28...Began a two-week throwing and hitting program on 6/13 (taking dry swings and throwing from 45 feet)...Took BP with the Pirates at PNC Park for the first time on 6/27...Played two games with GCL Pirates on a rehab assignment and went 0-for-7 on 7/3 and 7/4...Also played five games with Triple-A Indianapolis and went 2-for-17...Was reinstated from D.L. on 7/10 and went 0-for-4 in first game back that night in Philadelphia...Went 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in his next game on 7/11...Homered twice and knocked in three runs on 7/22 vs. Milwaukee - his fourth career two-homer game...Also homered the next night at Arizona...Tallied first of four stolen bases on 7/24 at Arizona...Hit safely in season-high seven straight games from 7/22-28 (10-for-29, .345)...Went hitless in next 15 at bats before going 3-for-5 on 8/3 vs. Washington...Was moved to 5th spot in batting order on 8/18; went 12-for-43 (.279) with two homers in 13 games overall from the 5th spot...Received just his second non-intentional walk of the season on 8/19 - in his 42nd game...Went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored on 8/22 vs. Cincinnati...Homered again on 8/25 vs. Philadelphia...Walked three times (one intentional) in back-to-back games on 8/23 and 8/25...Went 3-for-19 in final six games in August and hit .176 in 22 games during the entire month...Was removed from the game by manager John Russell on 8/28 at Milwaukee and did not play again the next game...Made first of two appearances from 6th spot of lineup on 9/2 at Cincinnati and went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI...Went 3-for-5 in next game on 9/4 vs. St. Louis...Had RBI-single as a pinch hitter on 9/6 vs. St. Louis...Went 8-for-20 (.400) in first six games in September and batted .346 during the entire moth...Missed consecutive games on 9/8-9 due to a stiff back...Connected off lefty Tim Byrdak for lone homer batting right-handed on 9/13 at Houston; his seventh career and first since September 17, 2008...Made start in right field on 9/19 vs. San Diego - his first start there since 8/13/07 (37th career start)...Went 4-for-4 with four RBI on 9/30 at Chicago (game two)...Threw out 11 of the 40 runners attempting to steal against him (28%), committed six errors (five throwing/one CI) and had two passed balls.

2008

Led all National League catchers with a .323 batting average; Minnesota's Joe Mauer led all backstops with a .335 average (minimum of 400 plate appearances)...His .318 overall average would have ranked fourth in the N.L., but he fell 37 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the batting title...Made career-high 106 appearances (103 starts) behind the plate and threw out 15 of the 72 runners attempting to steal against him (21%)...Led National League with a .407 average with runners in scoring position and ranked third in the Majors behind David DeJesus (.419) and Ian Kinsler (.413)...Hit .314 with 10 home runs batting left-handed and .330 with five homers batting right-handed...His 15 home runs were the most by a Bucco catcher since Mark Parent hit 15 in 1995...Ranked fourth among N.L. catchers with 68 RBI (also had one RBI as a pinch hitter)...Made first career Opening Day start and went 3-for-7 with a run scored in 12-11, 12-inning victory in Atlanta...Connected off Scott Olsen for second career home run batting right-handed on 4/4 at Florida; his first since 8/27/05...Hit safely in each of his first five games and was leading the National League in batting (.450) after the action on 4/6...Had second career two-homer game on 4/20 at Chicago (NL)...Ranked second in the Majors among catchers in batting average (.371) and slugging percentage (.614) during the month of April...Was hiting .350 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 29 games when he suffered a left thumb fracture on 5/13 in St. Louis...Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 5/14...Made three rehab appearances with Double-A Altoona from 6/3-5 and went 3-for-7 while catching a total of 11 innings...Was recalled from his rehab assignment and reinstated from D.L. on 6/6...Went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two home runs on 6/10 vs. Washington and then went 3-for-4 with a homer the following game...Homered again the next game and finished the series against the Nationals with nine hits, including four home runs, and seven RBI; becoming the first catcher to reach those levels in a three-game series since Mike Piazza of the Dodgers had nine hits, five home runs and 11 RBI in three games from June 29-July 1, 1996...Shared N.L. Player-of-the-Week honors with Florida's Ricky Nolasco during week of 6/9-15 after hitting .400 (10-for-25) with seven RBI and a league-leading four home runs, 24 total bases and a .960 slugging percentage...Was hit in the mask three times while catching on 6/17 and missed next five games due to concussion-like symptoms...Returned to action on 6/24 vs. New York (AL) and went 3-for-5 with a home run - his fourth straight game at PNC Park with a home run...Made lone appearance at first base (1 inning) on 7/12 vs. St. Louis...Recorded first stolen base on 7/26 vs. San Diego (fourth career stolen base)...Had three hits and swiped second base on 7/28 vs. Colorado...Started 23 of the first 26 games after the break...Had three hits on 8/20 at St. Louis and fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle the following night; his home run on 8/21 was his first since 7/22...Left game on 8/22 at Milwaukee due to dehydration...Batted .250 (16-for-64) in 17-game span from 8/11 thru 9/2, dropping average from .333 to .318...Went 4-for-5 on 9/5 at San Francisco and collected a hit in six straight at bats from 9/3-5...Went 3-for-4 with a homer and career-high four RBI on 9/17 vs. Los Angeles; his first home run at PNC Park since 7/7...Had back-to-back three-hit games on 9/20-21...Hit final home run on 9/26 at San Diego...Hit 11 home runs prior to the All-Star break and four after...Made eight errors (six throwing/two fielding) behind the plate and shared league lead with nine passed balls (also Paul Bako)...Agreed to terms on a new contract on 12/22.

2007

Established career highs in nearly every offensive category (had career-high 35 RBI in 2005) while spending majority of season with Pittsburgh...Was a member of the Opening Day roster for the second straight year...Went 0-for-3 in first four games as a pinch hitter and was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on 4/7...Hit safely in 11 of his first 12 games with the Indians, going 20-for-43 (.465) with four doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI...Homered twice in three games from 4/14-17...Hit a grand slam and knocked in five runs in 4/17 contest at Norfolk...Had at least one RBI in four straight games (11 RBI total) from 4/17- 20...Took home International League Player-of-the-Week honors for the week of 4/16-22 after hitting .423 (11-for-23) with a double, two home runs, 11 RBI, six runs scored and a .692 slugging percentage...Led the International League in batting average (.415) and RBI (20) during the month of April...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 4/26...Started that day behind the plate and went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI...Made first of 33 starts during the season and fourth career start in right field on 4/28 vs. Cincinnati...Had a career-high tying four hits while hitting first home run on 4/29 vs. Cincinnati...Hit safely in a career-high 11 straight games from 4/29 thru 5/11, going 19-for-37 (.514)...Made first of two starts at first base on 5/3 at Milwaukee and went 2-for-4...Recorded first career outfield assist in 5/5 game at Milwaukee after throwing out J.J Hardy at third base from right field...Took Arizona's Tony Pena deep for first career pinch hit home run, a three-run shot on 5/18 at PNC Park...Had a pair of outfield assists in 5/22 game at St. Louis...Went 4-for-28 (.143) from 5/23 to 6/7 before hitting safely in next five games (10-for-21, .476)...Homered in back-to-back games on 7/4-5 and in three of his five contests from 7/4-14...Hit a game-tying pinch hit, three-run homer in the 7th inning at Atlanta on 7/14...Snapped an 0-for-20 streak with a home run on 7/31...Hit safely in eight of his nine starts from 7/31 thru 8/11, going 13-for-38 (.342) with two homers and five RBI...Tripled in back-to-back games on 8/10 and 8/11...Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 8/14 with a left wrist contusion; injured the wrist while making attempt on catch in right field on 8/13...Was reinstated from D.L. on 9/8...Injured his right ankle on 9/8 and ended the season on the disabled list...Made 33 starts in right field, 28 behind the plate, two at first base and one as the DH while playing with the Pirates...Threw out four of the 22 baserunners attempting to steal against him (18%) and had five passed balls...Ranked second on team with five outfield assists.

2006

Was a member of Pittsburgh's Opening Day roster for the first time in his career...Took Cincinnati's Rick White deep for first hit of season on 4/6 at Great American Ball Park...Homered for the second time in four games on 4/11 vs. Los Angeles...Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 4/16 (retro to 4/12) with a left hamstring strain...Began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis on 4/27...Went 0-for-5 in first two games of rehab before going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored on 4/29 vs. Columbus...Was recalled from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the disabled list on 5/3...Made first career appearance at first base as a starter on 5/6 at Washington and recorded 14 putouts (no errors) while going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI...Had RBI-double as a pinch hitter on 5/9 vs. Arizona...Missed nine straight starts due to a nagging left hamstring from 5/7-18...Returned to the starting lineup on 5/19 at Cleveland as the club's designated hitter...Ended game on 6/1 vs. Milwaukee with a walkoff single...Suffered a left hamstring tear while running to first base on 6/4 vs. Milwaukee and was placed on the D.L. the following day...Hit a combined .172 (5-for-29) in nine games on rehab with the Gulf Coast League Pirates and Double-A Altoona...Was recalled from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the disabled list on 8/23...Returned to action that night in pinch hit appearance and reached first base on an error...Reached base safely in 13 of his 14 games from 8/27 thru 9/10 and in 20 of his 22 games from 8/27 thru 9/20...Made final start behind the plate on 8/30...Made final 23 starts at first base...Went deep in back-to-back games on 9/8-9 at Cincinnati...Was ejected for arguing balls and strikes by home plate umpire Greg Gibson in 9/21 contest at Los Angeles...Made 28 appearances (26 starts) at first base and committed just three errors in 228 total chances...Also threw out two of the 13 baserunners attempting to steal against him (15%) and had two passed balls in his 11 appearances (10 starts) behind the plate...Went 2-for-10 in his three starts as the designated hitter...Had 15 of his 31 hits go for extra bases...Hit three of his six home runs against Cincinnati...Participated in Mexican Pacific Winter League and batted .292 (40-for-137) with six doubles, six home runs and 16 RBI in 35?games with Mazatlan...Made 23 defensive appearances at first base and 11 in the outfield.

2005

Began season with Indianapolis...Homered off Curt Schilling (on rehab) in Triple-A debut on 4/7 in 7-5 win over Pawtucket. ...Went deep from both sides of the plate and had four RBI on 4/17 at Norfolk...Was leading the International League with six home runs following the action on 4/17...Went 11 straight games without a homer until going deep again on 5/4 at Toledo...Had a 10-game hitting streak from 5/9-19, going 15-for-36 (.417) with eight RBI...Homered in back-to-back games on 5/13-14 and three times in five contests from 5/13-18...Made first of three starts in right field on 5/20 at Pawtucket...Had a season-high four hits on 5/31 vs. Louisville...Made a total of 38 starts behind the plate, five as the designated hitter and three in right field while playing with Indianapolis...Was tied for third in the International League in home runs and ranked second in slugging percentage (.630) at the time of his recall to Pittsburgh on 6/5...Made major league debut on 6/5 vs. Atlanta and grounded out as a pinch hitter...Made first big-league start behind the plate and doubled off Baltimore's Hayden Penn for first hit on 6/7...Made first of three starts in right field on 6/11 vs. Tampa Bay and went 3-for-5 with a double, triple, three RBI and three runs scored...Batted .364 (8-for-22) during five-game hitting streak from 6/7-15...Served as the club's designated hitter in each of the six interleague road games and went 4-for-23 (.174) with four RBI...Hit right-handed against RHP Tim Wakefield on 6/17 at Boston and went hitless in three at bats...Stole home as part of a double steal on 6/17 at Boston, the first Bucco to do so since Jack Wilson on 5/12/02...Snapped an 0-for-12 streak on 6/30...Connected off Houston's Ezequiel Astacio for first major league home run on 7/19 (game one) at PNC Park...Hit second home run in same game, a 457' blast off Russ Springer which bounced into the Allegheny River (the last big-league player to hit his first home run as part of a multi-homer game was Colorado's Aaron Miles on 4/14/04)...Went 3-for-32 (.094) in last 13 games during the month of July...Had career-high eight-game hitting streak from 8/3-14, going 12-for-23 (.522) with one homer and nine RBI...Delivered a two-run single as a pinch hitter on 8/4 vs. San Diego...Led all major league rookies with a .364 batting average and a .425 on-base percentage during the month of August - ranked fourth among all N.L. players in average and sixth in on-base percentage...Connected off Cincinnati's Eric Milton on 8/27 for first career home run batting right-handed...Fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle on 9/13 @St. Louis...Had a career-high four hits on 9/24 at Los Angeles...Hit five of his six home runs off righthanders...Threw out 10 of the 29 runners attempting to steal against him (34%)...Made 50 appearances (48 starts) behind the plate for the Pirates...Was charged with four passed balls and made eight errors (five throwing and three fielding)...Played nine games during the Dominican Winter League and went 7-for-26 (.269) with three RBI for Escogido.

2004

Spent an injury-plagued season with Altoona (AA), appearing in just 67 games...Made 25 appearances behind the plate and went 32-for-128 (.250) in 33 games as the designated hitter...Hit .289 (50-for-173) with nine home runs against right-handed pitchers and .167 (8-for-48) with one homer off lefties...Began season on the disabled list due to a bout with mononucleosis...Was activated from the D.L. on 4/26...Smacked first Double-A home run in his first left-handed at bat of the season on 4/28 @Norwich (game one)...Also homered the following day vs. Erie...Produced a season-high 13-game hitting streak from 5/6-19 (15-for-49, .306). ...Hit a 1st-inning, two-run homer off Phillies prospect Gavin Floyd to key a 5-2 Curve win vs. Reading on 5/25...Reached base safely in 18 straight games from 5/6 thru 5/25 and in 26 of his 28 games from 5/6 thru 6/6...Made final appearance behind the plate on 6/2 @Bowie; was limited to pinch-hitting and DH duty from that point forward due to right elbow soreness...Ripped a game-tying solo homer in the top of the 9th inning in the Curve's 2-1, 10-inning win @Portland on 7/9...Blasted three home runs in a four-game series @Portland from 7/9-12...Was placed on D.L. with right elbow soreness on 7/27 and missed remainder of season.

2003

Spent entire season with Lynchburg (A)...Led the Carolina League in doubles, ranked second in extra-base hits (50) and third in RBI...Ranked second on the club in RBI behind Walter Young (87)...Played in more than 68 games for the first time in a single season...Hit safely in each of his first 10 games, going 16-for-41 (.390) with three home runs, 14 RBI and 11 runs scored...Had season-high four hits on 4/24 vs. Kinston...Batted .398 (33-for-83) and produced 23 RBI in 20 games during the month of April...Also hit safely in 10 straight games from 4/23 to 5/4 (18-for-49, .367)...Hit .241 in May and just .207 in June...Picked up a hit in 12 of his 13 games from 7/5-19, going 20-for-48 (.417) with six multi-hit efforts...Tallied 15 RBI over a 12-game stretch from 8/8-19. ...Went 8-for-24 (.333) with two home runs and nine RBI during a six-game hitting streak from 8/14-20...Made 86 appearances behind the plate and went 38-for-141 (.270) in 39 games as the designated hitter...Hit 10 of his 11 home runs off right-handed pitchers...Threw out 21 of the 85 baserunners attempting to steal against him (25%), committed nine errors and had a league-high 23 passed balls...Participated in the Arizona Fall League and hit .346 (9-for-26) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and seven RBI in 10 games with the Mesa Desert Dogs (managed by former Altoona Manager Tony Beasley).

2002

Spent entire season with Hickory (A), his second straight campaign interrupted by injury...Made 31 appearances behind the plate and went 45-for-140 (.321) in 36 games as the designated hitter...Threw out eight of the 38 baserunners attempting to steal against him (21%), had six passed balls and seven errors...Batted .355 (66-for-186) and hit each of his six home runs off righthanders...Hit just .236 (17-for-72) against lefties...Went 31-for-82 (.378) with runners in scoring position...Hit safely in each of his first seven games, going 10-for-28 (.393) with nine runs and eight RBI...Knocked in five runs on 5/2 vs. Greensboro...Batted .394 (13-for-33) during an eight-game hitting streak from 5/11-19...Went 30-for-75 (.400) with 17 RBI over a 19-game stretch from 5/23 thru 6/13...Reached base safely in 15 straight contests from 5/27 thru 6/13...Hit grand slam and drove in six runs on 6/13 @Hagerstown...Suffered a broken index finger on his right hand on 6/27 vs. Kannapolis...Placed on the disabled list on 6/28 and underwent surgery on 7/2 (surgery performed by Dr. Mark Baritz in Pittsburgh).

2001

Spent majority of injury-riddled season with Hickory...Made 23 appearances at catcher and 16 as the designated hitter with the Crawdads...Threw out nine of the 32 baserunners attempting to steal against him (28%), had five passed balls and three errors while catching with Hickory...Began season with a nine-game hitting streak, going 12-for-36 (.333)...Went homerless in his first 21 games before hitting first roundtripper on 5/10 @Hagerstown...Placed on the disabled list on 5/14 with back spasms...Began rehab assignment with Bradenton (Rookie) on 7/5...Went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI on 7/28 @Red Sox...Was reinstated from the disabled list on 8/3 and appeared in two games with Altoona...Went 0-for-1 with an RBI as a pinch hitter on 8/3 vs. Harrisburg and 1-for-3 with an RBI as a catcher on 8/5 vs. the Senators...Returned to Hickory on 8/6 and homered in his return to the Crawdads on 8/7 vs. Kannapolis...Actually reached base safely in 13 consecutive games with Hickory from 4/20 thru 8/10 (streak interrupted by three-month stint on DL)...Went hitless in his last five games (16 at bats).

2000

Spent entire season with Williamsport (A)...Was named to the New York-Penn League All-Star team and was selected to the Short-Season All-Star team by Baseball America...Finished 10th in the NY-Penn League in average...Made 46 appearances behind the plate and went 30-for-73 (.411) in 19 games as the designated hitter...Batted .433 (13-for-30) in his first eight games thru 6/28...Slugged first home run on 6/26 @Hudson Valley, but went next 59 games without a roundtripper...Hit .238 in July and .386 in August...Recorded consecutive four-hit games vs. Vermont on 7/27-28...Compiled a season-best 10-game hitting streak from 8/2-14 (18-for-40, .450)...Had five hits on 8/13 vs. Lowell...Batted .361 (17-for-47) with nine RBI in his final 12 games.

1999

Spent first professional season with Bradenton after being selected by Pittsburgh in 2nd round of 1999 June draft...Hit .423 (22-for-52) in 16 games as the designated hitter and .063 (2-for-32) in 13 games as a catcher...Went 6-for-31 (.194) in his first 13 games...Hit lone home run and drove in season-high three runs on 8/17 vs. the Orioles...Posted three consecutive multi-hit games from 8/19-21 (6-for-11)...Batted .333 (18-for-54) over his final 16 games...Hit .341 on the road and .220 at home.