| Travis Buck | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Buck with the Houston Astros in 2012 | |||||||||||||||
| Outfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1983-11-18)November 18, 1983 (age 41) Richland, Washington, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| April 2, 2007, for the Oakland Athletics | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| May 28, 2012, for the Houston Astros | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .243 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 95 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Travis George Buck (born November 18, 1983) is an Americanbaseball coach former professionaloutfielder, who is currently an assistant coach for Loyola Marymount. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theOakland Athletics,Cleveland Indians andHouston Astros.
Buck attendedRichland High School before enrolling atArizona State University. He playedcollege baseball for theArizona State Sun Devils baseball team from2003-2005. He is eighth in the ASU all-timehits category with 272, and his 110 hits in 2005 are the ninth-most in Sun Devils history. In2004 and 2005, he was selected as aPac-10 Conference All-Star outfielder, and in 2004 he helped leadTeam USA to a gold medal in theWorld University Baseball Championship, finishing second on Team USA hitting .412 (28-for-68) with two doubles, two home runs and 14 RBI.[1] He won the Pac-10 Player-of-the-week award in consecutive weeks in 2004, a feat that was not repeated by a Sun Devil untilIke Davis in 2007.[2]
He was selected by theSeattle Mariners in the 23rd round (700th overall) in the2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but opted not to sign with the Mariners so that he could attendArizona State University. He was later drafted by the Athletics as the 36th overall selection of the2005 Major League Baseball Draft.
In2006, Buck split time between High A (theStockton Ports) and Double-A (theMidland RockHounds). He finished the yearhitting .302 for Midland with fourhome runs in 212at-bats. He was selected as an outfielder for the United States in theAll-Star Futures Game atPNC Park inPittsburgh.[3]
Prior to2007, Buck was rated as the top prospect in the Oakland organization[4] and the #50 prospect in Major League Baseball[5] byBaseball America. He was in theOpening Day lineup for Oakland due to an injury tofirst basemanDan Johnson, which prompted managerBob Geren to shiftNick Swisher to first base and tab Buck as the startingright fielder.[6] Buck went 1-3 in the game, with his first major league hit being adouble off Marinersstarting pitcherFélix Hernández.
Buck was the opening day right fielder for the Athletics in2008, but spent much of the season at Triple-ASacramento, before being recalled in September.
On December 2, 2010, Buck was non-tendered by the Athletics making him a free agent.[7]
On December 20, 2010, Buck signed a minor league deal with theCleveland Indians. He made their 2011 opening day roster, but was soon sent down to the Triple-AColumbus Clippers whenGrady Sizemore was activated from the disabled list. However, when Sizemore returned to the disabled list in mid-May, Buck was recalled.
Buck was designated for assignment on July 28. After the 2011 season, he elected for free agency. On October 6, 2011, Buck elected free agency.[8]
TheHouston Astros signed Buck to a minor league contract on November 9, 2012.[9]
Buck played in theSan Diego Padres organization in 2013. He became a free agent after the 2014 season.
After ending his playing career, Buck opened a baseball training facility in Richland, Washington calledTBuck Training.[10] Buck was named theBoise State University Baseball director of player development and bench coach on August 20, 2018.[10] On July 5, 2021, Buck joined the Arizona State staff as hitting coach.[11] He became an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount prior to the 2024 season.
