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Andy Abad
First Base — none — No. NA
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Place of Birth	Date of Birth
West Palm Beach, Florida	August 25, 1972
Height	Weight
6'0"	210lb
College	2006 Salary
Middle Georgia College	$327,000
MLB debut
September 10, 2001 for the Oakland Athletics
Drafted
1993 amateur draft, 443rd pick in the 16th round, by the Boston Red Sox

Andy Abad was born Fausto Andres Abad on August 25, 1972 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Before being drafted, he graduated from Jupiter High School in Florida (Dante Bichette also attended Jupiter High), and then he attended Middle Georgia College. Middle Georgia College has had alumni such as Kal Daniels, Jody Davis, Tom Dunbar, Shawn Hillegas, Mike Fitzgerald, Ray Stephens, Garey Ingram and Ernest Riles.

The left handed hitting and throwing Abad was drafted in the 16th round – 443rd overall – in the 1993 amateur-entry draft by the Boston Red Sox.

Andy-a fair power, fair speed player with an amazing eye at the plate-started out in the Gulf Coast League. There his professional career started off a little bumpy-he hit only .248 in his rookie professional season.

The next year, 1994, Andy jumped to Single-A Sarasota, where he saw some success. His average jumped 40 points from .248 to .288. He remained in Sarasota through part of 1995, where he then jumped to Double-A Trenton. His average plummeted to .240 while with Trenton that year.

He was sent back down to single-A Sarasota in 1996, but he didn't stay there long. After hitting .287 for the Single-A team, he was again called up to Double-A Trenton, and this go around was much more successful. He hit .277 with Trenton, and combined he had his first 10-plus steal season. He ended up with 15.

In 1997, Abad only played 45 games, all with Double-A Trenton. He hit .303 that year, the first of multiple .300-plus seasons.

In 1998, Abad really showed what he could do. He started out with Triple-A Pawtucket and made the best of his time there. He experienced his first double digit home run season, where he hit 16. He also stole 10 bases, for the second time in his career. He hit .307.

The next year was also very successful-he stole the same amount of bases and hit 15 home runs. His average wasn't as lofty, but still not disappointing-he hit .297.

On October 15, 1999 Abad was released. After three straight very successful seasons, he was granted free agency.

Anybody could have retired, but he wanted to play baseball. So, he went overseas, and played in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2000. He must have done good enough, because after the 2000 season, the Oakland Athletics scooped him up.

And he started in the minors again. There he had perhaps the best season of his minor league career with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats – he hit .301 with 19 home runs.

He made his MLB debut in 2001 – he played in one game and went 0 for 1 in 1 plate appearance. His one plate appearance was as a pinch hitter for Jeremy Giambi. He may have not produced in his first at-bat, but at least he did not strikeout.

But, these successes could not keep him in the Athletics system. He was granted free agency and later picked up by the Florida Marlins.

And again, he was signed by Boston. Not surprisingly, he started out the season in the minors-with Triple-A Pawtucket. While with Pawtucket, he hit .304 with 13 homers. He got the chance to play for more than one week in the Major Leagues this time – he appeared in 9 games (17 at-bats) with Boston. He couldn't translate his minor league success into the Majors, as he hit only .118.

Also not surprisingly, he was granted free agency. He was picked up by Pittsburgh. In 2004, Abad hit .292 with 15 homers.

He was then released, and picked up by the Cleveland Indians. He played the 2005 season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. During the 2005 season, he hit .293 with a career high 20 home runs.

In 2006, he was on the Cincinnati Reds opening day 25 man roster. In 5 games in the Majors that year, he went 0 for 3, but he did walk twice. In the minors in 2006 with the Louisville Bats, he hit .267 with 9 home runs.

• In 2003, Abad was an International League All-Star.

• Pitched in one game in 1996, two games 2002, and one game in 2005. In 5 2/3 innings, he's given up 3 runs, and has struck out two.
• Made his ML debut on September 10, 2001, one day before the terrorist attacks.
• Abad's father escaped Cuba during the Fidel Castro revolution.
• Was named co-MVP along with Ryan Garko while with AAA-Buffalo in 2005.
• Triple-A All-Star and a Baseball America All-Star in 2003.
• Abad hit .529 during the 2001 PCL playoffs.
• Currently, Abad lives in Jupiter, Florida.
• Lou Merloni has been a teammate of Abad longer that anybody else.