Xavier Nady

Infobox MLB player
name = Xavier Nady

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width = 250
caption = Xavier Nady as a member of the New York Yankees
position = Outfielder
team = New York Yankees
number = 22
bats = Right
throws = Right
birthdate = birth date and age|1978|11|14
birthplace = city-state|Salinas|California
debutdate = September 30
debutyear = 2000
debutteam = San Diego Padres
statyear = 2008 season
stat1label = Batting average
stat1value = .280
stat2label = Home runs
stat2value = 87
stat3label = Runs batted in
stat3value = 323
stat4label = On-base plus slugging
stat4value = .793
teams =
* San Diego Padres (by|2000, by|2003–by|2005)
* New York Mets (by|2006)
* Pittsburgh Pirates (by|2006–by|2008)
* New York Yankees (by|2008–present)

Xavier Clifford Nady VI [cite news| work=New York Times| title=Xavier Is a Household Name. At Least It Is in the Nady Household. | author=Ben Shpigel| date=2006-03-21| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/sports/baseball/21mets.html] (pronEng|ɛksˈeɪːvɪər 'neɪdiː; born November 14, 1978 in city-state|Salinas|California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees.

Amateur career

The St. Louis Cardinals originally drafted Nady in the 4th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft (134th overall) after he was named Northern California Player of the Year in his senior year of high school, but he did not sign professionally at that time. After attending UC Berkeley, where he set the all-time Pac-10 Conference record for career slugging percentage (.729), Nady was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Diego Padres (49th overall). Nady signed a major league contract and became the 18th player to go directly to the major leagues without making his professional debut in the minor leagues since by|1965. Nady only appeared in one game and spent extensive time in the minor leagues following his debut. He was named Padres Minor League Player of the Year in by|2001, also collecting the California League's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards that season. Nady underwent Tommy John surgery and had limited playing time in by|2002. In by|2003, he again returned to the major league level for part of the season, but spent most of his time in the minor leagues.

Professional career

an Diego Padres

In late June by|2005, Nady became the first Padre since Greg Vaughn (in by|1998) to homer in four consecutive games.

New York Mets

The Padres traded him to the New York Mets for Mike Cameron on November 18, 2005.

On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Nady was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the [http://www.komen.org Breast Cancer Foundation] . Nady underwent an emergency appendectomy early in the morning on May 30, 2006; he was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and returned to the lineup on June 18.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 30, by|2006, Mets set-up relief pitcher Duaner Sanchez was injured when the cab in which he was a passenger was broadsided. The Mets' pitching corps was already depleted with star hurler Pedro Martinez on the disabled list. Desperate for pitching, the Mets felt that a trade was imperative and were forced to give up Nady, their starting right fielder, to the Pirates in exchange for pitchers Óliver Pérez and Roberto Hernandez. While he was a Met for a relatively short time, Nady had performed well and quickly become a fan favorite at Shea Stadium. The trade shocked several fans who thought Nady had been a valuable part of the team, slugging 14 HR (7 of them tying the game or giving the Mets the lead) and driving in 40 runs in only 75 games. The deal came as such a surprise to certain fans that a band known only as "Kuff and the Buttheads" penned a song "The Ballad of X," a chronicle of his time with the Mets, which garnered mild publicity in baseball blogs, and Internet forums.cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/09-17-2006/sports/baseball/story/453093p-381332c.html|last=Spector|first=Jesse|title=It's a Tangled Web: Searching for Baseball's Online Oddities|publisher=The New York Daily News|accessdate=2006-09-17|date=September 17-2006-09-17]

He can be seen hitting a home run as a Met on TV in the background of the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Coincidentally, it was against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the same year he was traded to them.

New York Yankees

On July 26, by|2008, the New York Yankees acquired Nady and pitcher Dámaso Marté from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Dan McCutchen, and Jeff Karstens.cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/07/25/pirates.yanks.trade/index.html|title=Yanks acquire Nady, Marte from Bucs for 4 minor league prospects|date=2008-07-26|publisher=SI.com|accessdate=2008-07-26]

Nady had a career high 6 RBI as the Yankees came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels on August 3, 2008.

Uniform Number

During his major league career with both the Padres and Mets, Nady wore uniform number 22, with the Pirates his uniform number was changed to 25 for a brief stint before his number was again changed, this time back to his original number 22. When he was traded to the Yankees, he was assigned number 29, due to LaTroy Hawkins being assigned 22 at the time. Shortly after, Hawkins was traded to the Houston Astros and Nady switched back to 22.

Personal life

Nady is married to Meredith. She had their first child, Xavier Henry Nady VII, on July 15, 2008. [ [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080719&content_id=3156600&vkey=news_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit Nady rejoins team after birth of child | pirates.com: News ] ]

After an intestinal illness prior to spring training in 2007, Nady was tested for Crohn's disease due to family history of the disease. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/news/story?id=2777979 ESPN - With family history, Nady to take Crohn's disease test - MLB ] ] The tests turned out negative and Nady was instead diagnosed with a minor infection of the small intestines [ [http://www.rotowire.com/roto_to_gnews.htm?ID=209224&sport=mlb Xavier Nady: Does Not Have Crohn's Disease ] ] .

ee also

*List of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues

References

External links

*Baseballstats |mlb=294558 |espn=4564 |br=n/nadyxa01 |fangraphs=1658 |cube=n/xavier-nady