Yevgeny Puchkov

Yevgeny Puchkov
(Poochie)
First name also listed as Evgeny or Evgeni, last name also lsited as Puchkof

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 172 lb.
• School Moscow State University

• Born March 3, 1969

Biographical Information

Yevgeny Puchkov was one of the first Russians to play in the US minor leagues after the Cold War.

Puchkov had been a tennis player when he was at Moscow State before switching to baseball. He played for the USSR in the 1990 Goodwill Games, hitting .250 and serving as DH (Andrei Kuzich was the 3B). He tied Kuzich, Ilya Bogatyrev and Nugzar Popkhadze for the team lead with three hits. In the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, he batted .296/.310/.444 for the USSR. He had the winning hit in game one of the first Russian Series, in 1992. The California Angels signed him for $1,500, along with two other players from the USSR (Bogatyrev was one of the others). Puchkov hit .245/~.355/.255, performing the best of the three signees. He split time between third base and DH.

In 1993, he only hit .116/~.240/.116 for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, playing 19 games as a backup at 2B to Lino Connell and Mark Simmons, both of whom also failed to reach the Mendoza line.

In the 1995 European Championship, Puchkov hit .500 to tie Luigi Carrozza for 5th; he was third with a .636 OBP and 11th with a .688 slugging percentage. Puchkov also tied for 6th with 3 doubles in the event. He made the All-Star team at third base, the only Russian chosen.

Still playing in the Russian League in 1997, Yevgeny hit .478 in limited action.

Sources

• 1995 European Championship
• 1993 and 1994 Baseball Almanacs
• Baseball in Europe by Josh Chetwynd

Further Reading

• Tom Singer and Doug Miller: "The Glasnost Gang: When the Halos 'invaded' Russia: In 1992, the Angels signed three Russian players. Here is their story", mlb.com, March 25, 2016. [1]