Andre Ethier

Andre Ethier
Los Angeles Dodgers — No. 16
Outfielder
Born: April 10, 1982 (1982-04-10) (age 27)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 2, 2006 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics (through 2009 season)
Batting average	.291
Home runs	75
Runs batted in	302
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-present)
Career highlights and awards
Silver Slugger Award (2009)

Andre Everett Ethier (pronounced /ˈiːθiər/) (born April 10, 1982, in Phoenix, Arizona), is a Major League Baseball outfielder of French and Mexican descent. Ethier plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Collegiate career

Junior College career

Ethier transferred to Chandler-Gilbert Community College after playing with ASU in the fall of 2000. The coaching staff at ASU told him that they thought he did not have Division I talent, and that he would do better to play junior college ball. At CGCC, Ethier recorded 94 hits as one of the top junior college players in Arizona, batting .468 with 32 doubles. He was named team MVP. During the summer of 2001, he played with the Keene (N.H.) Swampbats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Arizona State University

Ethier re-enrolled at ASU in the fall of 2001 and played there until the end of his junior year in 2003 with an ASU career batting average of .371, 113 runs, 27 doubles, 7 triples, 14 home runs and 118 runs batted in. His collegiate career ended in the midst of a 23-game hitting streak. He was a two-time Pacific-10 Conference All-Star in 2002-03.

Professional career

MLB Draft and minor leagues

Ethier was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 37th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Opting to attend ASU instead, he was drafted in the second round of the 2003 amateur draft, again by the Oakland Athletics. He signed with the Athletics on July 1, 2003.

Oakland assigned him to the Single-A Vancouver Canadians and later to the Kane County Cougars for the 2003 season. His minor league career continued in 2004 with the Modesto Athletics, where he hit .313, and in 2005 with the Midland RockHounds Double-A team, where he hit .319 with 18 homers and was selected as the Texas League Most Valuable Player, Oakland Athletics Minor League Player of the Year, Texas League All-Star Outfielder and Texas League All-Star Game MVP. He also played four games in 2005 with the Sacramento Rivercats Triple-A team. [1]

On December 13, 2005, Ethier was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez.

Major league career

2006 season

Ethier hit a double and drew a walk in his Major League Baseball debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 2, 2006, against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his home state of Arizona and hit his first home run the next night against Dewon Brazelton of the San Diego Padres .

Ethier with the Dodgers in 2008.

On May 19, 2006, Ethier had a breakout game, going 5 for 5 with four runs scored as he raised his batting average from .222 to .317. He remained hot throughout the summer and was named National League Player of the Week for the week ending July 9, 2006. Ethier batted very well for much of the season with his average peaking at .354 before a late slump dropped it to .308 at season's end.^[1] An early front-runner for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, he finished fifth in voting^[2]. He used the song Alive by P.O.D. as his batting song his rookie year.

2007 season

Ethier entered the 2007 Season expecting to split time with Matt Kemp, and Luis Gonzalez in the outfield. But Ethier got a lot of playing time early due to an injury to Kemp. Ethier enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign, playing in 153 games while batting .284, with 13 home runs, and 64 RBIs.

2008 season

Ethier (top left) with Dodgers teammates Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre in 2008.

Ethier beat out Juan Pierre to become the Dodgers starting left fielder for the start of the 2008 season. When the Dodgers acquired outfielder Manny Ramirez, he moved to his more natural position of right field, with Kemp playing center field. In the regular season, Ethier played in 141 games, had 525 at bats, scored 90 runs, had 160 hits, hit an average .305 batting avg. with 20 Homers and 77 RBIs. His OBP was .375.

2009 season

In 2009, Ethier hit .272 with a career best 31 home runs and 106 RBIs. He was a key contributor for the Dodgers this season, with six walk off hits (including four walk off home runs), the most by any player in the Major Leagues since 1974.^[3] He won the Silver Slugger Award at the conclusion of the season.

Personal life

In the offseason, he resides with his wife, Maggie Germaine, in Chandler, Arizona. Maggie Germaine was an All-American gymnast at Arizona State. They have a baby boy named Dreson, born on September 13, 2008.

Ethier is a Roman Catholic and has done a recorded piece for Catholic Athletes for Christ.

Ethier writes a food blog at Dining with 'Dre.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andre Ethier

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Andre Ethier's ASU Bio
• "Ethier Learns to Deal With Name Recognition"
• Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
• Dining with 'Dre