Travis Buck

Infobox MLB player
name = Travis Buck


width = 150
caption =
team = Oakland Athletics
number = 6
position = Right fielder
birthdate = birth date and age|1983|11|18
birthplace = city-state|Richland|Washington
bats = Left
throws = Right
debutdate = April 2
debutyear = 2007
debutteam = Oakland Athletics
statyear = 2008 season
stat1label = Batting average
stat1value = .266
stat2label = Home runs
stat2value = 14
stat3label = Runs batted in
stat3value = 59
teams =
*Oakland Athletics (by|2007–present)

Travis George Buck (born November 18, 1983 in Richland, Washington) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics. He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 23rd round (700th overall) in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft. He did not sign with the Mariners and elected to attend Arizona State University. He would later be drafted by the Athletics as the 36th overall selection of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

College career

Buck played college baseball for Arizona State University from by|2003-by|2005. He is #8 in the ASU all-time hits category with 272, and his 110 hits in 2005 are the ninth-most in Sun Devils history. In by|2004 and 2005, he was selected as a Pac-10 Conference All-Star outfielder, and in 2004 he was a gold medal winner with the USA Baseball National Team. [cite web|title = "Player Bio: Travis Buck"|accessdate = 2007-08-14|publisher = CSTV.com|url = http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/buck_travis00.html]

Professional career

In by|2006, Buck split time between High A (the Stockton Ports) and Double-A (the Midland RockHounds). He finished the year hitting .302 for Midland with four home runs in 212 at-bats. He was selected as an outfielder for the United States in the All-Star Futures Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. [cite web|title = "2006 Futures Game Rosters"|accessdate = 2007-08-14|publisher = "Baseball America"|url = http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/futuresgame/rosters/261771.html]

Prior to by|2007, Buck was rated as the top prospect in the Oakland organization [cite web|title = "Top 10 Prospects: Oakland Athletics"|date = 2006-12-06|publisher = "Baseball America"|url = http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/262970.html] and the #50 prospect in Major League Baseball [cite web|title = "2007 Top 100 Prospects"|date = 2007-02-28|publisher = "Baseball America"|url = http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/263445.html] by "Baseball America". He was in the Opening Day lineup for Oakland due to an injury to first baseman Dan Johnson, which prompted manager Bob Geren to shift Nick Swisher to first base and tab Buck as the starting right fielder. [cite web|title = "Four unexpected players make roster"|date = 2007-04-01|publisher = MLB.com|url = http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070401&content_id=1873923&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak] Buck went 1-3 in the game, with his first major league hit being a double off Mariners starting pitcher Félix Hernández.

Buck was the opening day right fielder for the Athletics in mlby|2008, but struggled mightily. He spent much of the season at Triple-A Sacramento, before being recalled in September.

tatistics

Miscellaneous facts

*Travis comes out to the song "King of Kings" by Motörhead for his at bats at Athletics home games.
*Travis appears on the back of "Kellog's Rice Krispies" boxes in a 2008 Adidas ad campaign alongside U.S. Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix.

References

External links