Aubrey Huff

Infobox MLB player


width = 150
name = Aubrey Huff
team = Baltimore Orioles
number = 17
positionplain = Designated hitter / First baseman
birthdate = birth date and age|1976|12|20
birthplace = city-state|Marion|Ohio
bats = Left
throws = Right
debutdate = August 2
debutyear = 2000
debutteam = Tampa Bay Devil Rays
statyear = 2008
stat1label = Games
stat1value = 1172
stat2label = Batting average
stat2value = .287
stat3label = Home runs
stat3value = 188
stat4label = Runs batted in
stat4value = 667
teams =
*Tampa Bay Devil Rays (by|2000-by|2006)
*Houston Astros (by|2006)
*Baltimore Orioles (by|2007-present)

Aubrey Lewis Huff (born December 20, 1976 in Marion, Ohio) is a Major League Baseball designated hitter, third baseman and first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles.

High school career

Grew up in Mineral Wells, Texas. Transferred from Mineral Wells High School to Brewer High School in Fort Worth, Texas before junior year. At Brewer High School, Huff was an All-District baseball player and also excelled in basketball.

University of Miami

After attending Vernon College in North Texas, Huff transferred to the University of Miami and, as a junior, was named second team "All-American" by "Baseball Weekly". In his final season, he set a University of Miami season record with 95 RBIs and led the Hurricanes in home runs (20), doubles (20) and total bases (172).

Professional career

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Out of the University of Miami, Huff was Tampa Bay's fifth-round selection in the by|1998 amateur draft and quickly advanced through the minor league system. He was named the Devil Rays' "Minor League Player of the Year" in 2000 at Durham and International League Rookie of the Year. Huff made his major league debut later that year and spent the final two months of the season with the Rays, where he hit .287. In 2002, Huff ended the season with a .313 batting average, leading the Rays. He then hit 34 home runs--another team high--during the 2003 season, adding 107 RBIs while sporting a .311 batting average that also led the club.

Houston Astros

On July 12, 2006, the Houston Astros acquired Huff from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for minor leaguers Mitch Talbot and Ben Zobrist. In his debut with the Astros on July 13, 2006, Huff went 2-4 with a three-run homer.

Baltimore Orioles

On December 30, 2006 he signed a 3-year $20 million contract with the Orioles.

Before the 2008 season, Huff switched his uniform number from 19 to 17, in honor of his former teammate Joe Kennedy, who passed away during the previous offseason at the age of 28. [http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080818&content_id=3329265&vkey=news_ari&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari]

He was named AL Player of the Week in July 2008 after hitting .345 with three home runs and nine RBIs. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.orioles08jul08,0,7677191.story]

Aubrey Huff was named "Most Valuable Oriole" for the 2008 Season. He also is a genuinely nice guy who reportedly bought a group of fans $100 worth of beer for painting their chests to spell out "HUFF!".

Legacy

Huff has hit 188 career home runs, placing him in the Top 400 (tied 313th overall) players by total career home runs, led currently by Barry Bonds. He hit for the cycle on June 29, 2007, a night on which he also made his 1000th hit, and 200th double. He is only the third Oriole to hit for the cycle, after Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken, Jr. and the first player to do so at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He remains the Devil Rays' all time leader in games played, total bases, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, extra base hits, and intentional walks.

Huff has appeared at five different positions in his career: third base, first base, left field, right field, and designated hitter.

tatistics

Major League

small|Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions. Stats through September 28,2008.cite web| url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/huffau01.shtml | title=Aubrey Huff Statistics| work=Baseball-Reference| accessdate=2008-08-14]

Controversy

On November 13, 2007, on an appearance of Bubba the Love Sponge show, Huff described the city of Baltimore as "a horseshit city", after Bubba and the guys asked about the night life. He later said his remarks were taken out of context and he was only commenting on the city's night life. Both the audio and video of the show were available only to adult subscribers.This led Orioles' fans to jeer him incessantly throughout the 2008 season opening day game.

ee also

*Top 500 home run hitters of all time
* Hitting for the cycle
* List of Baltimore Orioles Opening Day Starting Lineups
* Tampa Bay Rays all-time roster

References

External links

*baseballstats |mlb=333492 |espn=4479 |br=h/huffau01 |fangraphs=1213 |cube=H/aubrey-huff