Cliff Brumbaugh

Clifford Michael Brumbaugh

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.
• School University of Delaware
• High School William Penn High School
• Debut May 30, 2001
• Final Game July 24, 2001
• Born April 21, 1974 in Wilmington, DE USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Cliff Brumbaugh was a star with the Hyundai Unicorns of the KBO, enjoying his best season as a pro with them in 2004. He saw MLB big league action in 2001 with both the Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies.

College career

Cliff hit .413/?/.647 as a sophomore in 1994 and led the NAC in average and possibly doubles (21). He made the All-Conference team at third base. He tied Matt Quatraro for 23rd in NCAA Division I in batting average. As a junior, Brumbaugh led the NAC in runs (68), hits (95) and doubles (32). He batted .442/?/.749. His 56 RBI were three shy of the conference lead, he stole 15 bases and he was second in average. He led NCAA Division I in doubles (five more than anyone else) and ranked 4th in average among players with 125+ at bats. He again was the All-Conference third baseman and won Player of the Year honors.

1995-1999: A and AA baseball

The Texas Rangers picked Brumbaugh in the 13th round of the 1995 amateur draft. Assigned to the Hudson Valley Renegades, he batted .358/.437/.475 in his first pro season. He led the New York-Penn League in hits (101), OBP and average (by 29 points). He made the league All-Star team at third and won the MVP Award, giving him two player of the year honors for a league or conference in the same year. Moving up to the Charleston RiverDogs in 1996, Brumbaugh only hit .242/.345/.362, a far cry from his last couple years. He stole 20 in 27 tries, drew 72 walks and hit 7 triples. In 1997, the third baseman was on the Charlotte Rangers and batted .261/.326/.414. He led the team in home runs (15) and doubles (27, tied with Warren Morris) but was only 13 for 24 in attempts to steal. He led the Florida State League in games played (139) and led league third basemen in assists (271) and fielding percentage (.958). Cliff moved up to the Tulsa Drillers in 1998 and produced at a .259/.335/.427 clip with 34 doubles and a team leading 76 RBI. Mostly playing first base, he led Texas Leaguers with a .990 fielding percentage. Brumbaugh returned to Tulsa in 1999 and batted .281/.368/.507. He scored 94 runs, drove in 89, hit 35 doubles, went 18 for 22 in steals while leading the club with 25 home runs. He also went 3 for 12 that year with the Oklahoma RedHawks.

2000-2003: AAA and the majors

Cliff played 7 games for Tulsa in 2000 but spent most of the season in Triple A with Oklahoma. He hit .278/.390/.423 with 85 walks and 81 runs scored for the RedHawks, getting caught 12 times in 21 tries. He bounced between first base, third base and the outfield. Brumbaugh started 2001 back with Oklahoma and batted .307/.404/.510 in 54 games. On May 28, he was called up to Texas, becoming the 46th Delaware native to play in the bigs. He only played 7 games for the Rangers, going 0 for 10 with a walk and five strikeouts. He did get four starts in right field. The team tried to reassign him back to Oklahoma but he was grabbed off waivers by the Colorado Rockies. Brumbaugh hit .278/.316/.417 in 14 games for the Rockies, his last appearance in the major leagues; overall, he batted .217/.265/.326 in a mere 46 at bats. Sent down to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the 27-year-old hit .332/.419/.471. Overall, he batted .320/.412/.490 with 81 RBI in 107 games in Triple A and finished 10th in the Pacific Coast League in batting average. Returning to the Sky Sox in 2002, Brumbaugh hit .293/.362/.467 with 85 runs scored, 36 doubles, 16 home runs and 81 RBI, leading the team in runs scored, RBI and doubles. He was four doubles shy of the PCL lead. In 2003, Cliff signed with the Chicago White Sox and was assigned to the Charlotte Knights, where he hit .309/.371/.507 in 62 games.

2003-2004: Korea

Brumbaugh was signed by the Hyundai Unicorns at that point and finished the year with them, hitting .303/.374/.538 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI in 264 at bats. In the Korean Series, he batted .333 with 10 RBI to help the Unicorns take home the title. In the 2003-2004 Dominican League, Brumbaugh hit .267/?/.437 for the Azucareros del Este. The next year, Cliff almost won a Triple Crown. He led the Korea Baseball Organization in average (.343), OBP (.468) and slugging (.608). He edged Jin-young Lee for one point in the batting race. His 33 homers and 163 hits were second in the circuit (trailing Song-Heun Hong in the latter and Kyung-wan Park by one in the former) and his 105 RBI were third best. Cliff also scored 92 runs, banged out 43 doubles and drew 114 walks. He led Hyundai to the pennant; in the Korean Series, Hyundai won again.

2005-2006: Japan

Cliff's 2003-2004 performance drew notice elsewhere in East Asia and he was signed by the new Orix Buffaloes. Moving between the two corner outfield spots, the two corner infield spots and DH (his main position), he batted .263/.331/.435 with 19 home runs and 106 strikeouts in 2005. Orix brought Brumbaugh back but he did little in 2006, only hitting .223/.280/.372 in 47 games. He spent much of the year on the farm with Surpass Kobe, batting .328/.394/.656 in 21 games in the Japanese minors. The Buffaloes let him go after the year. Overall, he hit .254/.320/.422 in 171 games for Orix.

2007-2010: Korea, Mexico and Edmonton

Brumbaugh re-signed with Hyundai for $300,000 for 2007. He batted .308/.437/.537 with 29 homers and 87 RBI in 126 games and 438 at bats, finishing 4th in the KBO in OBP, 4th in slugging and tied for second in both homers and RBI with Dae-ho Lee, trailing only Jung-soo Shim in both categories. He stuck around when the team moved to Seoul and re-named themselves the Woori Heroes, batting .293/.388/.450 with 13 homers in 102 games in 2008. He finished his KBO career in 2009, batting a respectable .245/.371/.484 with 27 bombs and 86 RBI in 123 games. Prior to 2010, Cliff returned to the western hemisphere and signed to play in the Mexican League. Following 22 games with two squads, he headed to the great white north with the Edmonton Capitals of the Golden Baseball League and destroyed the league, batting .383/.443/.691 with 23 homers and 90 RBI in just 76 games. He retired at season's end.

Notable Achievements

• 1995 MVP New York-Penn League Hudson Valley Renegades

Sources

1996-2005 Baseball Almanacs, Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland, Brumbaugh bio at DelawareBaseball.com, 2007 Official KBO Encyclopedia