Chris Allison

Christopher Ryan Allison

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.
• School Bradley University
• High School Rock Island High School
• Born October 22, 1971 in Rock Island, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Second baseman Chris Allison played in the Boston Red Sox minor league system from 1994 to 1997.

Allison hit .373 as a college sophomore in 1993, second in the Missouri Valley Conference behind Dee Dowler. That summer, Allison was named the Baseball America Summer League First-Team All-American 2B. He had hit .356 for the Nevada Griffons, leading the Jayhawk League and had also stolen 24 bases. In 1994, Chris batted .364, 6th in the MVC and stole 28 bases.

He was drafted by the Red Sox in the ninth round of the 1994 amateur draft, one pick after Jimmy Anderson. He was the second infielder Boston took that year, after Nomar Garciaparra (the other first-team middle infielder to be picked as a 1993 Baseball America Summer League All-America) and ahead of 11th-rounder Donnie Sadler.

Allison began his professional career with the Utica Blue Sox that season. In 39 games, he hit .333/.376/.403 with 11 stolen bases. Had he qualified, he would have been third in the New York-Penn League in average behind Jay Payton and Geoff Blum. He played for the Michigan Battle Cats in 1995, hitting .315/.429/.369 with 36 stolen bases in 87 games. He posted the strong on-base percentage thanks to his good eye at the plate - he drew 52 walks and struck out only 39 times. He was only caught stealing four times. He again would have been among the league leaders in average if he had qualified, 7th in the Midwest League, right behind Jose Valentin. He also would have been 2nd in the OBP, just five points shy of leader Jesse Ibarra. Despite his part-time role, he was only 5 steals shy of Red Sox farm leader Sadler and was 11th in the MWL.

With the Trenton Thunder in 1996, Allison stumbled and hit only .230/.291/.255 with 14 stolen bases while being caught 11 times in 109 games. He also made 21 errors, leading Eastern League second basemen. He rebounded in 1997, hitting .292/.352/.374 with 13 stolen bases (in 25 tries) in 117 games split between the Sarasota Red Sox (109 G) and Pawtucket Red Sox (8 G); however, that would be his final professional season.

He hit .284/.358/.341 with two home runs, 113 RBI and 74 stolen bases overall.

He was elected to the Bradley University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

Sources include 1994-1998 Baseball Almanacs