Andrei Sazonov

Andrei Sazonov

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• Born August 8, 1981 in Moscow USSR

Biographical Information

Andrei Sazonov played for the Russian national team a few times.

Sazonov debuted in the Russian League with MGU-78 in 1996, homering in his lone at-bat and drawing a walk. In 1997, he hit .412 to finish 8th in the league; he was 9th in slugging and tied for 5th in doubles (6). He posted an OBP of .467. Playing for RusStar in 1998, he hit .465/.513/.761 to finish among the leaders in average (7th), OPS (6th), total bases (54, 3rd, behind Dmitry Golubev and Andrei Selivanov), slugging (5th), homers (3, tied for second), longest hitting streak (18), RBI (27, 6th), doubles (10, tied for first with Golubev), hits (33, tied for 3rd with Selivanov) and extra-base hits (14, tied for 3rd).

In 1999, the teenage star produced at a .425/.484/.550 clip with Moskvich. He was 6th in average (between Alexander Fedorov and Golubev), 7th in total bases (44), 6th in hits (34) and tied for 4th in swipes (16). He hit .384/.500/.568 for MGU in 2000. He was 3rd in average (behind Alexander Nizov and Selivanov), 3rd in OPS (behind Selivanov and Nizov), 3rd in total bases (83, trailing Andrey Bolotin and Nizov), 4th in slugging (between Bolotin and Fedorov), 3rd in doubles (13, 3 behind Bolotin and Nizov), 3rd in OBP (behind Selivanov and Nizov), tied for first with 33 walks, 7th in RBI (29), home runs (tied for 3rd with 2), 3rd in extra-base hits (behind Bolotin and Nizov), tied for 4th in triples (4, even with Bolotin and Maxim Yudaev), 3rd in hits (56, behind Nizov and Fedorov), tied for 6th in runs (37) and tied for 7th in stolen bases (20). That was the last season for which Russian League stats are available online in English (as of July 2016).

Sazonov hit .267/.343/.367 with 5 runs and 5 RBI as the DH for Russia in the 2001 European Championship; Russia finished second, their best ever in a European Championship (through 2015). In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, he was 1 for 14 with two walks as their main DH. He also backed up Sergei Soloviev at catcher, with 4 passed balls and an error in two games, allowing five steals in six tries. In the 2003 European Championship, he batted .194/.219/.194 as the Russian DH, with one run and two RBI in eight games. He was the primary Russian catcher in the 2003 Baseball World Cup and did better than in 2001, hitting .235/.316/.235 with two runs and one RBI in six games. He played error-free ball and had one passed ball in five games at catcher, allowing two steals in two tries.