Kurt Suzuki

Infobox MLB player
name = Kurt Suzuki


width = 300
caption =
team = Oakland Athletics
number = 24
position = Catcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1983|10|4
birthplace = city-state|Wailuku|Hawaii
bats = Right
throws = Right
debutdate = June 12
debutyear = 2007
debutteam = Oakland Athletics
statyear = 2008 season
stat1label = Batting average
stat1value = .271
stat2label = Home runs
stat2value = 14
stat3label = Runs batted in
stat3value = 81
teams =
*Oakland Athletics (by|2007–present)

Kurt Kiyoshi Suzuki (born October 4, 1983 in Wailuku, Hawaii) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics drafted him in the second round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft and assigned him to the Single-A Vancouver Canadians, where he batted .297 and committed just one error in 46 games. He joined the major league club on June 9, mlby|2007 and made his debut three days later as a pinch hitter in a game against the Houston Astros [http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2007_06_12_oakmlb_houmlb_1&c_id=oak] .

College career

He played at Cal State Fullerton, where he was a teammate of pitcher Jason Windsor, also a by|2004 A's draftee. Cal State Fullerton captured the 2004 College World Series championship, thanks to Suzuki's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Titans a 3-2 win over the Texas Longhorns (whose closer, Huston Street, was also drafted by the A's in 2004). His time at Fullerton earned him the nickname "Kurt Klutch."

That same year, he won the Johnny Bench Award as the country's top collegiate catcher in 2004. He was also selected All-American by two publications, "Baseball America" and "Collegiate Baseball". He was also the recipient of the first ever Brooks Wallace Award.

Professional career

His first full season of professional baseball came in by|2005, with another Single-A team, the Stockton Ports. Playing in 114 games, Suzuki put up a .277 average, 12 home runs, 65 RBI and a .440 slugging percentage.

Moving up to the Double-A Midland RockHounds in by|2006, Suzuki batted .285 with a .392 OBP.

He began the 2007 season with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, where he hit .280 with 3 home runs. He was called up to the A's major league club on June 9, 2007 [http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070609&content_id=2016424&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak] after rarely used catcher Adam Melhuse was traded to the Texas Rangers. He served as backup to veteran Jason Kendall until Kendall was traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 16, thus making Suzuki the Athletics everyday catcher.

On July 17, 2007, pitcher Shane Komine got into a game in the 8th inning against the Texas Rangers with Suzuki doing the catching. This marked the first time in major league baseball history that there was a battery where both the players were from Hawaii.

On September 10, 2007, Suzuki hit his first career grand slam in the second inning against the Mariners in Seattle.

For the mlby|2008 season, Suzuki was the catcher position while Rob Bowen served as back-up. In the first 20 regular season games, Suzuki started 18. He ended the season with a .279 batting average in 148 games.

tatistics

Bibliography

*"2005 Oakland Athletics Media Guide". Pg. 374. Produced by the Oakland Athletics Public Relations Department.
*"2006 Oakland Athletics Media Guide". Pg. 215. Produced by the Oakland Athletics Public Relations Department.

External links

* [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/stats/player.php?id=435559 BaseballAmerica.com: 2006 Player Statistics: Kurt Suzuki]