Pedro Alvarez (baseball)

Pedro Alvarez (born February 6, 1987 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a baseball player who was drafted second overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.

Alvarez grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan.cite web |last=Nelson |first=Amy K |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2008/news/story?id=3423039 |title=Alvarez following in some famous footsteps |publisher=ESPN.com |date=2008-06-03 |accessdate=2008-06-12]

High school career

Alvarez first attended the Mott Hall School for gifted and talented students in Harlem, where he was an A student. He then attended Horace Mann School in the Bronx, where he holds numerous baseball records, most notably home runs, batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and RBI. [cite web |title=Player Bio: Pedro Alvarez :: Baseball |url=http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/alvarez_pedro00.html |accessdate=2008-01-05 |publisher=Vanderbilt University ] Alvarez was named Athlete of the Year his senior season. Though he attended a small private school, Alvarez's abilities attracted the attention of scouts throughout the New York City area, especially after he led his club team, the Bayside Yankees, to a national title in 2005. In recognition of his success, Louisville Slugger crowned him the Player of the Year in New York and also named him to its All-America team.

Vanderbilt career

After graduating from high school, Alvarez was drafted in the 14th round of the 2005 major league draft by the Boston Red Sox. Though offered a substantial signing bonus, [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/417421p-352619c.html New York Sports - NY Daily News ] ] Alvarez instead chose to go to SEC baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt. Alvarez started slowly and had some trouble adjusting to the college game. However, comfortable, he quickly became an integral member of the Commodore lineup. Alvarez put up some of the best offensive numbers in the history of Vanderbilt, setting single-season school records in home runs (22) and second in RBIs to Warner Jones. These stats earned Alvarez National Freshman of the Year honors from several publications, including "Baseball America". Alvarez was then selected to the USA National team, leading the team in batting average. "Baseball America" ranked him as the 2nd best pro prospect on the squad. In addition, "Sports Illustrated" ranked him as the best pro prospect on the team and said that he was the "early favorite to be drafted first in 2008," due to his impressive performance over the summer and as a freshman. [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/sioncampus/08/04/top10.teamusa/index.html SI.com - SI On Campus - Bryan Smith: Top 10 Team USA players to watch - Friday August 4, 2006 1:36PM ] ]

Before the 2007 season began Alvarez was named to the watchlist for the SEC and national player of the year awards. He was also chosen as a 1st team pre-season All-American. During the season, Alvarez had great success, hitting .397 with 17 home runs, 65 RBI, 72 runs, an on-base percentage of .467, and a slugging percentage of .706 for the 51-11 Commodores. His strong play was one of the key reasons Vanderbilt captured its first ever SEC regular-season championship. During the SEC Tournament, Alvarez powered Vanderbilt to a come-from-behind championship despite the team dropping the tournament's first game. No other team in SEC history had ever come back to win after losing its first game, and Alvarez was named Tournament MVP.

Alvarez was invited back to Team USA after his strong performance in 2006 and would prove to be a leader on the field. He led the team in homers, runs batted in, batting average, hits, and slugging percentage.

2008 First Year Player Draft

Alvarez was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1st round as the number 2 pick overall. He agreed to a $6 million minor league contract with the Pirates on August 15, minutes before the deadline. He has yet to sign it [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080827&content_id=3375888&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb] . He has been placed on the Pirates restricted list. On September 22nd, Alvarez agreed to renegotiated terms on a 4-year contract, making him the highest paid player from the 2008 draft class.

Awards and honors

*2007 Golden Spikes Award Finalist
*2007 Baseball America First Team All American [ [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/features/264298.html BaseballAmerica.com: College: 2007 College All-America Team Chart ] ]
*2007 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association First Team All American [ [http://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/news/2007/allamerica070613.html NCBWA > News > 2007 Pro-Line Athletic NCBWA All-America Team ] ]
*2007 American Baseball Coaches Association Second Team All American [ [http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/061807aaa.html Price Named ABCA Player of Year :: Junior ace headlines group of five Commodores named to All-American Teams ] ]
*2006 "Baseball America" National Freshman of the Year [ [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/features/261819.html BaseballAmerica.com: College: Alvarez Dominates In His Debut ] ]
*2006 "Baseball America" First Team All American [ [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/features/261703.html BaseballAmerica.com: College: 2006 College All-America Team ] ]

References

ee also

*Vanderbilt University
*Vanderbilt Commodores
*Tim Corbin
*David Price

External links

* [http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/stories/022307aaa.html National Player of the Year watchlist]
* [http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/alvarez_pedro00.html Official Vanderbilt profile]