Jeff Abbott

Jeffrey William Abbott

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of Kentucky, Cal State Fullerton
• High School Dunwoody High School
• Debut June 10, 1997
• Final Game September 29, 2001
• Born August 17, 1972 in Atlanta, GA USA

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Biographical Information

Jeff Abbott played five seasons in the bigs. He was part of the division-winning 2000 Chicago White Sox.

Abbott was born in Georgia and attended Dunwoody High School. He went to the Kentucky and Cal State Fullerton for college. As a junior with the Wildcats in 1994, he hit .445 with 23 homers and led the SEC in batting average. He had the 4th-highest average in NCAA Division I, was 4th with 203 total bases and 4th with 23 homers while tying for 9th with 24 doubles. He was drafted by the White Sox twice, first in the 32nd round in the 1993 amateur draft and then in the 4th round in the 1994 amateur draft.

Jeff never hit under .320 in the minors before reaching the majors. At the Rookie level, with Sarasota in the GCL, he only needed 4 games, posting a .467/.579/.733 line, to be moved up. He also outclassed the league with the Hickory Crawdads in the class A South Atlantic League, where he put up a line of .393/.481/.598. The next year, 1995, found him with the Prince William Cannons in the Carolina League, where he posted a .348/~.410/.455 line. Moved up to the Birmingham Barons in the AA Southern League midway in the season, he posted a .320/~.383/.431 line. In 1996, he spent the season in AAA with the Nashville Sounds in the American Association, hitting .325/~.375/.486. He was second to Dmitri Young in the batting race, made the AAA All-Star team, was named the league's 3rd best prospect by Baseball America and was also named top batting prospect in the league. Even with those numbers, he was slated to stay another year. In 1997, he put up almost exactly the same numbers, .327/~.385/.486, and finally earned a shot at the bigs. He was error-free in the outfield, led the American Association with 88 runs scored and again was second in average, two points behind teammate Magglio Ordóñez. He was again named to the league's All-Star team.

Abbott appeared in 19 games with the White Sox in 1997, hitting .263/.263/.368 with a home run and a double. Abbott's performance was good enough that he made the team the following season, hitting .279/.298/.492 with 12 home runs in 244 at bats. He was the fourth outfielder, playing all over the outfield. Starting slowly in 1999, with a .158 average in 17 games, he found himself back at AAA with the Charlotte Knights in the International League. He showed he was still too good for minor league pitching, putting up numbers of .318/~.359/.509 as Charlotte went to the Triple A World Series. 2000 was a good year for Abbott, as he was a contributor to the division-winning White Sox. He put up a .274/.343/.395 line in 80 games and served as the fourth outfielder. He had one postseason at bat as the ChiSox fell to the Seattle Mariners.

After the season, he was traded to the Florida Marlins. He was 28, with a couple of seasons under his belt as a fourth outfielder on a decent team, and it might have been expected that he would be a regular outfielder for several years with the Marlins. It was not to be. Jeff started the 2001 season with knee problems and was to bounce between various teams the whole season. He showed he still dominated AAA ball by posting .320/~.347/.526 with the Calgary Cannons in the Pacific Coast League, and had 7 dominant games in AA with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League with a line of .462/~.501/.731. He was also in Class A with the Brevard County Manatees of the Florida State League for 3 games, hitting .250. In the majors, he appeared in 28 games, hitting .262/.326/.333. While the minor league performances were good, the Marlins let him go after the season. The Boston Red Sox gave him a shot with the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League, and for once he was under .300: .283/.331/.447 for the entirety of 2002. In 2003, he appeared in only 4 games in AAA with the Tacoma Rainiers of the PCL, getting 2 hits in 15 at bats, before calling it a career.