Jeffrey Hammonds

Infobox MLB retired
name=Jeffrey Hammonds
position=Outfielder
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1971|3|5
Scotch Plains, New Jersey
debutdate=June 25
debutyear=by|1993
debutteam=Baltimore Orioles
finaldate=May 22
finalyear=by|2005
finalteam=Washington Nationals
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.272
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=110
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=423
teams=
* Baltimore Orioles (by|1993–by|1998)
* Cincinnati Reds (by|1998–by|1999)
* Colorado Rockies (by|2000)
* Milwaukee Brewers (by|2001–by|2003)
* San Francisco Giants (by|2003–by|2004)
* Washington Nationals (by|2005)
highlights=
* All-Star selection (2000)

Jeffrey Bryan Hammonds (born March 5, 1971 in Plainfield, New Jersey) is a former Major League Baseball player. He attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and Stanford University in California before playing pro ball. [Olson, Drew. [http://www2.jsonline.com/sports/brew/dec00/brewers23122200.asp "Rich brew: Hammonds breaks bank of Brewers"] , "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel", December 22, 2000. Accessed December 13, 2007.] He played for the Baltimore Orioles (1993–1998), Cincinnati Reds (1998–1999), Colorado Rockies (2000), Milwaukee Brewers (2001–2003), San Francisco Giants (2003–2004), and his last team, the Washington Nationals in (2005).

Hammonds was a major speedster in high school and college before injuring his knee. After high school, Hammonds was a 9th round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989, but chose instead to attend Stanford University and didn't sign. After he broke the Pac-10 single season stolen base record as a freshman at Stanford, "The Star-Ledger" reported Hammonds was caught stealing just three times in his four years of high school (including summer ball), all three times by Union High School catchers. He was awarded NCAA Freshman of the Year and voted All-College World Series in 1990, and was an All-American in both 1990 and 1992. Hammonds was also played a prominent role on the 1992 Olympic baseball team in Barcelona, batting over .400 to lead the USA team. [Stanford University [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/stan/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/individual-honors.pdf] , "gostanford.com"]

Hammonds was a first-round draft pick (fourth overall) in the 1992 amateur draft selected by the Baltimore Orioles where he would play for 6 years. In his 13-year career in MLB, he batted .272, 110 home runs, 824 hits, and 423 RBI.

His best year easily came in 2000 with the Colorado Rockies, when Jeff batted .335, 20 home runs, 106 RBI, 14 SB, in only 454 at bats in 2000. With those kind of numbers Jeff earned himself a spot as a member of the 2000 National League all-star team representing the Rockies.

Before the 2001 season, Hammonds signed a 3-year, $21 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. The signing, however, turned out to be one of the bigger busts in team history. Multiple injuries was a main reason for his release, just a few months into the 2003 season.

On June 10, 2005, The "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" reported that Washington Nationals OF Jeffrey Hammonds had retired.

ee also

* Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
* Washington Nationals all-time roster

References

External links

*baseball-reference|id=h/hammoje01