Xavier Nady as a member of the New York Yankees.
Xavier Clifford Nady VI (born November 14, 1978 in Salinas, California) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, and the San Diego Padres.
Amateur career[]
The St. Louis Cardinals originally drafted Nady in the 4th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft (134th overall) after he was named Northern California Player of the Year in his senior year of high school, but he did not sign professionally at that time. After attending UC Berkeley, where he set the all-time Pac-10 Conference record for career slugging percentage (.729), Nady was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Diego Padres (49th overall). Nady signed a major league contract and became the 18th player to go directly to the major leagues without making his professional debut in the minor leagues since 1965. Nady only appeared in one game and spent extensive time in the minor leagues following his debut. He was named Padres Minor League Player of the Year in 2001, also collecting the California League's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards that season. Nady underwent Tommy John surgery and had limited playing time in 2002. In 2003, he again returned to the major league level for part of the season, but spent most of his time in the minor leagues.
Professional career[]
San Diego Padres[]
In late June 2005, Nady became the first Padre since Greg Vaughn (in 1998) to homer in four consecutive games.
New York Mets[]
The Padres traded him to the New York Mets for Mike Cameron on November 18, 2005.
On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Nady was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation. Nady underwent an emergency appendectomy early in the morning on May 30, 2006; he was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and returned to the lineup on June 18.
Pittsburgh Pirates[]
On July 31, 2006, a trade was initiated by the New York Mets in regard to reliever Duaner Sanchez being injured the night before in a traffic accident. This trade meant Nady would go to the Pirates in exchange for pitchers Óliver Pérez and Roberto Hernandez. While he was a Met for a considerably short time, Nady was one of the fan favorites at Shea Stadium. The trade shocked several fans who thought Nady had been a valuable part of the team, slugging 14 HR (7 of them tying the game or giving the Mets the lead) and driving in 40 runs in only 75 games. The deal came as such a surprise to certain fans that a band known only as "Kuff and the Buttheads" penned a song "The Ballad of X," a chronicle of his time with the Mets, which garnered mild publicity in baseball blogs, and Internet forums.[1]
He can be seen hitting a home run as a Met on TV in the background of the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Coincidental, it was against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the same year he was traded to them.[citation needed] During his major league career with both the Padres and Mets, Nady wore uniform number 22, with the Pirates his uniform number was changed to 25 for a brief stint before his number was again changed, this time back to his original number 22.[citation needed]
New York Yankees[]
On July 26, 2008, the New York Yankees acquired Nady and pitcher Dámaso Marté from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Dan McCutchen, and Jeff Karstens.[2]
Chicago Cubs[]
On January 29, 2010, Nady signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. On May 16, 2010, Nady hit a game-winning RBI single in the 8th inning against the Pirates, as the Cubs won 4–3. He became a free agent after the end of the season.
Arizona Diamondbacks[]
Nady signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on December 15, 2010. He became a free agent after the end of the season.
Washington Nationals[]
Nady signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals on March 18, 2012. He was called up by the Nationals on April 4 and was released on July 29, 2012.
San Francisco Giants[]
Nady was signed to a minor league contract by the San Francisco Giants on August 4, 2012. He made his debut for the San Francisco Giants on September 1, 2012. He later won the 2012 World Series in a 4 game sweep against the Detroit Tigers.
Kansas City Royals[]
On December 14, 2012, Nady signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals.
Colorado Rockies[]
Nady signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies on June 30, 2013
San Diego Padres[]
Nady signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres in January 2014.
Seattle Mariners[]
On May 27, 2014, Nady signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners.
Personal life[]
Nady is married to Meredith. She had their first child, Xavier Henry Nady VII, on July 15, 2008.[3]
After an intestinal illness prior to spring training in 2007, Nady was tested for Crohn's disease due to family history of the disease.[4] The tests turned out negative and Nady was instead diagnosed with a minor infection of the small intestines[5].
See also[]
- List of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues
References[]
- ↑ Spector, Jesse (September 17-2006-09-17). It's a Tangled Web: Searching for Baseball's Online Oddities. The New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
- ↑ "Yanks acquire Nady, Marte from Bucs for 4 minor league prospects", SI.com, 2008-07-26. Retrieved on 2008-07-26.
- ↑ http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080719&content_id=3156600&vkey=news_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit
- ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/news/story?id=2777979
- ↑ http://www.rotowire.com/roto_to_gnews.htm?ID=209224&sport=mlb
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube