Pat Burrell

Patrick Brian "Pat" Burrell (born October 10, 1976), nicknamed "Pat the Bat," is a former American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball. He stands 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and weighs 235 pounds (107 kg). He batted and threw right-handed. He played with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the San Francisco Giants.

Burrell attended the University of Miami, where he won the Golden Spikes Award in 1998. In 1998, he was the first overall draft pick by the Phillies. After two years in the minors, Burrell was called up by the Phillies in 2000, and he finished fourth in voting for the National League Rookie of the Year Award. After hitting 27 home runs in 2001 (the first of eight straight years in which he would hit at least 20), he hit a career-high 37 home runs in 2002 and finished 14th in NL Most Valuable Player Award voting. In 2003, he signed a six-year contract with the Phillies but batted a career-low .209 with 21 home runs. In 2004, he batted .257 with 24 home runs but missed several games with a wrist injury. He hit 32 home runs in 2005 and finished seventh in NL MVP Award voting after he set a career high with 117 RBI. In 2006, he batted .258 with 29 home runs and 95 RBI but was benched for a few games due to a slump after April. He batted .256 with 30 home runs in 2007 as the Phillies reached the playoffs for the first time in his career. Burrell hit a home run in the playoffs as the Phillies were swept in the first round. In 2008, he hit 33 home runs as the Phillies reached the playoffs again, winning the World Series.

After the 2008 season, Burrell became a free agent. He signed a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to be their designated hitter, and he batted .221 with 14 home runs in 2009. After he batted .202 with two home runs in his first 24 games of the 2010 season, he was designated for assignment by the Rays. He became a free agent and signed with the San Francisco Giants several days later. He took over as the Giants' left fielder and hit 18 home runs in 96 games for the Giants as they made the playoffs. Burrell did not have a hit in the World Series, striking out eleven times in fifteen plate appearances, but he got his second World Series ring as the Giants won it. Following the year, he signed a one-year deal to return to the Giants in 2011. He lost his left field job in 2011, and he batted .230 with a career-low 7 home runs in 92 games in addition to suffering a career-ending foot injury. He filed for free agency on October 30, 2011 and later signed a 1-day contract in 2012 to finish his career with the Phillies. On May 19, 2012 against the Red Sox, Burrell threw out the ceremonial first pitch and subsequently retired. He is currently a special assignment scout for the Giants and an assistant to general manager Brian Sabean.

1. ^ "Pat Burrell Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2009. 
2. ^ Hagen, Paul (April 12, 2012). "Burrell grateful for chance to retire with Phillies". Phillies.MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved April 12, 2012.