Craig Stansberry

Craig Stansberry
Toronto Blue Jays
Third baseman
Born: March 8, 1982 (1982-03-08) (age 29) Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 25, 2007 for the San Diego Padres
Career statistics (through 2009 season)
Batting average	.333
Home runs	0
Runs batted in	3
Teams
San Diego Padres (2007-2009)

Craig Leo Stansberry (born March 8, 1982 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia) is a Major League Baseball third baseman who is currently in the San Diego Padres organization. As of the end of the 2009 season, he is the only player in Major League Baseball history to have been born in Saudi Arabia.^[1]

Although he was born in Saudi Arabia, Stansberry only lived there for about a month. His father spent three years there working for a building materials company.

Stansberry attended Plano High School in Texas and went on to play one year at Rice University in which he hit .309 with six home runs and 56 RBI in 70 games. He also helped the Owls win the College World Series championship in his only year at Rice. He was then drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 5th round (135th overall) in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft, and then signed by scout Tom Barnard. After four seasons in the Pirates organization, he was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres on December 20, 2006.

Stansberry began the 2007 season for the Portland Beavers, the Padres Triple-A team. He was called up on August 25, 2007, when everyday second baseman Marcus Giles went on the disabled list. He was batting .273 with 14 home runs and ten steals in 124 games for the Beavers at the time of his call-up. Stansberry made his major league debut on that same day as a pinch hitter. He singled in his first major league at bat off Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher J. C. Romero.

In October 2009, Stansberry was granted free agency, but re-signed with the Padres, spending the 2010 season back with the Beavers. On September 1, 2010, Stansberry broke the record for most games played with the Portland Beavers.^[2] He ended the 2010 season with 531 games played with Portland.

See also

• List of countries with their first Major League Baseball player

Notes

1. ^ List of players born in Saudi Arabia
2. ^ Portland 11, Reno 3: Craig Stansberry sets club record for career hits in the Beavers victory

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Stansberry, Craig
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 8, 1982
Place of birth	Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Date of death
Place of death