| Ben Grieve | |
|---|---|
| Outfielder | |
| Born: (1976-05-04)May 4, 1976 (age 49) Arlington, Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 3, 1997, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 2005, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .269 |
| Home runs | 118 |
| Runs batted in | 492 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Ben Grieve (born May 4, 1976) is an American former professionalbaseballoutfielder who played nine seasons inMajor League Baseball (MLB), mostly with theOakland Athletics and theTampa Bay Devil Rays.
Grieve was a prospect who won the1998 American League Rookie of the Year award while playing for the Athletics. His father,Tom, also played in the MLB.
Grieve attendedMartin High School inArlington, Texas, where he was teammates withMatt Blank and won a Texas baseball championship in 1993.[1] As a senior in 1994, hehit .486.[2] He benefited from receiving hitting instruction from Tom's former teammate and then-Texas Rangers hitting coach,Tom Robson. He also played basketball at Martin.[3] He initially committed to playcollege baseball atTCU.[4]
Grieve was selected by theOakland Athletics with the second pick of the1994 Major League Baseball draft, behindPaul Wilson.[4] Before the 1998 season,Baseball America ranked him the best prospect in baseball.[5] In 1998, he hit .288, with 18 home runs and 89 RBIs posting a .840 OPS. His campaign earned him theAmerican League Rookie of the Year Award. In 1999, he followed up with a solid season, hitting .265 with 28 home runs and 86 RBIs. In the 2000 season, he hit 27 home runs, drove in 104 RBIs, and hit .279. The Athletics won 91 games and theAmerican League West division title. Following the 2000 season, he was involved in a three-team trade that sent him to theTampa Bay Devil Rays. That trade sentJohnny Damon andMark Ellis to the Athletics.[6]
With the Devil Rays in 2001, he hit 11 HR with 72 RBI, Grieve's slugging percentage dropping a full 100 points from the prior year. The following season (2002) he battled injuries, but did manage to hit 19 home runs and drive in 64 RBI in 136 games. In 2003, in 55 games, he hit .230, with 4 home runs and 17 RBI in 165 at-bats.
Following the 2003 season, Grieve signed as a free agent with theMilwaukee Brewers; on August 31 of the 2004 season, they traded him to theChicago Cubs. He served primarily as a back-up outfielder for both the Cubs and the Brewers that year. In all, he appeared in 123 games between the two teams, hitting just 8 home runs and driving in 35 runs.
Grieve departed the Cubs in the 2004–2005 offseason as afree agent; he eventually signed with thePittsburgh Pirates as anon-roster invitee to 2005spring training. He was cut by the Pirates prior to the regular season, which made him again a free agent. At the beginning of the 2005 season, he was signed by the Cubs to a minor-league contract, which assigned him to theTriple-AIowa Cubs. During the season, he was up and down, having two short call-ups followed by activation midway through September (following roster expansion). He ended the 2005 season having played in just 23 games at the majors, during which he hit 1 home run and had 5 RBIs.
Grieve spent the2006 season in the White Sox minor-league organization. He started the2007 season still in the White Sox minor-league organization, a member of the AAACharlotte Knights.
· Baseball Almanac| Preceded by Nomar Garciaparra | Players Choice AL Most Outstanding Rookie 1998 | Succeeded by Carlos Beltrán |