Kevin Kouzmanoff
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
|---|---|
| San Diego Padres — No. 5 | |
| Third Baseman | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 2, 2006 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Batting average | .214 |
| Home runs | 3 |
| Runs batted in | 11 |
| Former teams | |
|
|
Kevin Kouzmanoff (born July 25, 1981 in Newport Beach, California) is a Major League Baseball player with the San Diego Padres. Kouzmanoff hit a grand slam home run on the first pitch of his first Major League at bat on September 2, 2006. He became the first to hit a grand slam on his first pitch and only the third player to do so in his first at bat after Bill Duggleby in 1898 and Jeremy Hermida in 2005.[1]
Kouzmanoff was born in Newport Beach, California and grew up in Evergreen, Colorado where he played high school baseball at Evergreen High School. A 6th-round pick (168th overall) in the 2003 amateur draft by the Cleveland Indians, Kouzmanoff hit .364 in 2002 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and .361 as a walk-on in 2003 for the University of Nevada-Reno. He made his professional debut later in 2003 with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, hitting .272 with eight home runs and 33 runs batted in in 206 at bats. Kevin also played for the Winchester Royals in Virginia.
In 2004, Kouzmanoff hit 16 home runs, 87 RBI and a .330 average with the Lake County Captains of the South Atlantic League. Bothered by back problems in 2005, he was limited to only 254 at bats with the Kinston Indians, but still hit .339 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI.
Starting the 2006 season with Double A Akron, Kouzmanoff flirted with a .400 average[2] before finishing at .389 and being promoted to the Buffalo Bisons in July. On September 2, he became the first batter in Major League history to hit a grand-slam off the first pitch he faced from Edinson Volquez, in a 6-5 Cleveland Indians win over the Texas Rangers. Kouzmanoff became the 23rd Major Leaguer to hit a home run off his first Major League pitch, the 12th American Leaguer, and the second of 2006 (along with Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals).
On November 8, 2006, Kouzmanoff was traded with pitcher Andrew Brown to San Diego in exchange for second baseman Josh Barfield.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
 |
This biographical article relating to a baseball third baseman is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
