Andy Abad

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Fausto Andres Abad

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Biographical Information[edit]

Andy Abad made a handful of big league appearances in parts of three seasons.

A fair power, fair speed player with a strong eye at the plate, Abad was drafted in the 16th round (443rd overall) in 1993 by the Boston Red Sox. He started out with the GCL Red Sox, batting only .248. The next year, 1994, he jumped to Single A Sarasota, where he saw some success, hitting .288. He remained in Sarasota through part of 1995, when he jumped to Double A Trenton Thunder, but his average plummeted to .240 overall. He was sent back to Sarasota in 1996, but he did not stay long. After hitting .287, he was again called up to Trenton, and this go around was much more successful. He hit .277 and, between both levels, had his first 10-plus steal season, swiping 15 bags. In 1997, Abad only played 45 games, all with Trenton. He hit .303, the first of multiple .300-plus seasons. In 1998, Abad really showed what he could do. He started with Triple A Pawtucket Red Sox and made the best of his time there. He experienced his first double digit home run season, slugging 16 while batting .307. The next year was also successful; he stole the same amount of bases and hit 15 home runs. His average was not as lofty, but still not disappointing: he hit .297.

On October 15, 1999 Abad was released. Anybody could have retired, but he wanted to play baseball. So he went overseas, and played in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2000. He was atrocious for Kintetsu, hitting just .163/.235/.304 in 32 games before being let go and signed by the Oakland Athletics. Abad returned to the minors. There, he had perhaps the best season of his minor league career with the Triple A Sacramento River Cats, batting .301 with 19 home runs and hit .529 during the 2001 PCL playoffs. He made his MLB debut in 2001, playing one game and popping out to third base as a pinch hitter for Jeremy Giambi.

After seeing Abad spend the majority of his nine year professional career in the minors or overseas, and getting only one chance to play in the majors, one might begin to think Andy was a bad player. But statistics would say otherwise: he hit over .300 five times, walked more than struck out three times, and hit over 15 homers three times. These impressive statistics could not keep him in the Athletics system. He was granted free agency and picked up by the Florida Marlins. One would expect Abad to be wearing down at this point in his career. With the Triple A Calgary Cannons in 2002, he hit 11 home runs and batted .301, but again was granted free agency. And again, he was signed by Boston. Not surprisingly, he started the season in the minors with Triple A Pawtucket. While there, he hit .304 with 13 homers and was a Triple A and Baseball America All-Star. He got the chance to play for more than one week in the majors this time, appearing in 9 games with Boston, hitting .118 in 17 at bats.

Not surprisingly, he was granted free agency and picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2004, Abad hit .292 with 15 homers in the Pirates' system. He was then released and picked up by the Cleveland Indians. He played the 2005 season with the Triple A Buffalo Bisons, hitting .293 with a career high 20 home runs. He was named co-MVP of the Bisons along with Ryan Garko. In 2006, he was on the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster. In 5 games, he went 0-for-3. In 2007, he played for the Nashville Sounds, the Pacific Coast League Triple A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Abad signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Triple A affiliated Mexican League for 2008. After playing 30 games for the team, they released him in late April. He served as a coach with the Yakima Bears fro 2009-2010 and Visalia Rawhide in 2011.

He primarily wore number 30 in the majors. Currently, he lives in Jupiter, FL. His father escaped Cuba during the Fidel Castro revolution.

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