Damir Karin

Damir Karin

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born December 5, 1973

The borther of Kruno Karin and uncle of Pavao Karin, Damir Karin has been a regular for the Croatian national team for a decade. He led the 1996 European Championship B Pool in ERA. In the 1999 European Championship, he went 3 for 16 with 4 walks, 2 doubles and 2 steals, fielding .893 at shortstop. He played in the Dutch Hoofdklasse with ADO in 2001. During the 2001 European Championship, he hit .200/.286/.280 and fielded .875. He also pitched, allowing 7 hits, 5 walks and 8 runs in 4 2/3 innings and going 0-1.

Karin hit .250/.292/.280 in the 2003 European Championship and led Croatia with five RBI. He tied for 11th in the event in RBI, even with future major leaguer George Kottaras, AAA player Sharnol Adriana, US pro Harvey Monte and longtime international stars Dirk van 't Klooster and Sidney de Jong.

Karin led the Czech attack in the 2007 European Championship; the 33-year-old hit .375/.400/.417 to finish first on the club in average and second in OPS (behind Josip Brozinic). He fielded .947 at third base.

In the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg, Karin batted .250/.400/.333 and fielded .800 for Olmpijia Karlovac. He had a 2-run double in one of his two at-bats in the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers.