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Bobby Abreu

Bob Kelly "Bobby" Abreu /aˈbreʲu/ (nicknamed El Comedulce) (born March 11, 1974 in Turmero, Aragua State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the New York Yankees.

Abreu is a two-time all-star, who has won a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award. He has led his league in games (twice), doubles, and triples. Through he was seventh among active ballplayers in on base percentage (.412), and 13th in stolen bases (271).

Career

Abreu played with the Jacks of the Florida State League. He batted .283 and began to show gap power with 21 doubles and a league-record 17 triples. He also reached double figures in outfield assists for the third year in a row. After the campaign, Bobby had rotator cuff surgery done on his right shoulder, which had periodically given him problems.

Abreu started his Major League career with the Houston Astros. He played only 74 games over two seasons. Left unprotected in the 1997 MLB Expansion Draft when Houston decided to keep fellow Venezuelan outfielder Richard Hidalgo, Abreu was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but hours later he was traded to the Phillies for shortstop Kevin Stocker.

Despite the fact that both the Astros and Devil Rays deemed him expendable, Abreu firmly established himself as one of the most promising young hitters and strong-armed right fielders in the game.

In , his first season with the Phillies, Abreu led his team with a .312 batting average and collected 17 home runs, 74 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 151 games, with 271 putouts and 17 assists in right field.

In , he made a brief run at the batting title. His .335 career-high average that season ranked third in the National League and was the highest posted by a Phillies player since outfielder Tony González hit .339 in 1967. His .446 career-high OBP was also third in the league.

In , he was fourth in the league in triples (10), sixth in doubles (42), seventh in walks (100), and ninth in OBP (.416). Bobby became the first Phillie outfielder since Greg Luzinski with back-to-back 20 homer seasons.

In , Abreu led the NL in games played (162), and was third in walks (106), fourth in stolen bases (36) and doubles (48), and eighth in runs (118) and sacrifice flies (9). He also hit a career-high 31 home runs and had a career-high 110 RBIs.

In , he led the league in doubles (50), and was sixth in walks (104), seventh in stolen bases (31) and intentional walks (13), eighth in OBP (.413), ninth in hits (176), and tenth in runs (102).

In , Abreu was fourth in the league in walks (109), seventh in sacrifice flies (7), eighth in OBP (.409), and ninth in stolen bases (22).

Finally, in , he got his first All-Star berth, being voted in as the National League All-Star Final Vote winner in online voting on MLB.com.

Abreu finished the season with a .301 average, 30 home runs, and 105 RBI, and ranked among the National League top five in five offensive categories: runs (fourth, 118) -- the third time in 6 years that he scored 118 runs, doubles (fourth, 47), stolen bases (third, 40--a career high), walks (second, 127--a career high) and on base percentage (fifth, .428). In 2004, Abreu also led the Major Leagues in pitches-per-plate-appearance (4.32) and number of pitches seen (3,077), was eighth highest in the league in total bases (312), and posted the league's tenth-best OPS (.971).

2005 season

In May, Abreu was honored as the Player of the Month in the National League, after he hit .396 and 11 home runs. He also led the NL for the month in slugging average (.792), on-base percentage (.535), and walks (30) and was tied for the league lead with 30 RBI. He became the first player in Major League history to hit nine home runs in a ten-game stretch.

He was voted a starter in the NL outfield for the All-Star Game, finishing second in fan voting, behind St. Louis Cardinals Jim Edmonds.

At Comerica Park – a field normally considered a "pitcher's park" – Abreu won the Home Run Derby as he set records with 24 home runs in a single round (since broken by Josh Hamilton in 2008), and 41 overall, topping Miguel Tejada's previous marks of 15 and 27, set a year earlier. Abreu's longest homer was measured at 517', the third longest in Derby history. Many people believe Abreu damaged his swing during the Derby, because his power numbers dipped considerably for the remainder of 2005, into 2006.

In , (4.39), number of pitches seen (3,159), and games played (162), and was second in walks (117) and times on base (291), fourth in sacrifice flies (8), fifth in intentional walks (15), seventh in runs (104), stolen bases (31), and OBP (.405), ninth in strikeouts (104), and tenth in RBIs (102).

2006 season

On July 30, 2006, Abreu was traded along with Cory Lidle to the New York Yankees for minor league shortstop C.J. Henry (a 2005 first-round draft pick), left-hander Matt Smith (a seven-year minor league veteran), catcher Jesus Sanchez, and right-hander Carlos Monasterios -- all low-level prospects in the Yankee organization. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin referred to the trade as "the Great Gillick Giveaway" and declared it "an unvarnished disaster. Surprisingly, the Phillies improved after the Abreu trade, and made a run for the National League wild card, only being eliminated on the second to last day of the season.

Abreu fit very well into the Yankees lineup. Abreu hit .330 with 7 home runs and 42 RBIs as a Yankee in the 2006 season. Abreu and the Yankees ran away with the AL East division title by mid-September 2006, but were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 American League Division Series.

In 2006, Abreu led the Major Leagues in walks (124), pitches per plate appearance (4.45), and number of pitches seen (3,056), and was second in the Major Leagues in percent of plate appearances that were walks (18.5%), and led the NL in percentage of pitches taken (66.2), and in walks per plate appearance (.181), third in batting average on balls in play (.375), eighth in on base percentage (.424), 18th in stolen bases (30), and 19th in doubles (41).

2007 season

After getting off to a slow start in (2007), Abreu finished the season strong putting up 101 RBIs, 16 home runs and a .283 Batting Average. In , Abreu was second in the AL in runs (123), third in pitches per plate appearance (7.38), ninth in games (158) and times on base (258), and tenth in walks (84) and plate appearances (699).

2008 Season

Abreu has remained consistent throughout the season. He hit a walk-off double on July 9. On September 18 Abreu hit 2 Home Runs and had 6 RBIs in a game versus the Chicago White Sox. He finished the season with a .296 average, 20 home runs, and 100 RBIs.

Awards

1996 Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year
1999 Winter League All-Star OF
1999 Winter League Player of the Year
1999 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year
2000 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year
2001 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year
2004 NL Silver Slugger Award (OF)
2004 All-Star
2005 Player of the Month -- April
2005 NL Golden Glove Award (OF)
2005 All-Star
2005 Winner of the Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star game. (41 home runs over 3 rounds)

In the community

Abreu was involved in many events in the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley communities. In 2001, he was the Honorary Chairman for the American Red Cross Blood Drive.

Abreu bought $10,000 worth of tickets to most Friday night games for children in his "Abreu's Amigos" organization during the and seasons. In this program, the children got jerseys, coupons for concessions, and chances to meet Bobby Abreu on the field during batting practice.

Bobby was also the 2004 recipient of the Phillies Community Service award and the Phillies' representative for MLB's Roberto Clemente Award.

In 2008, Bobby made a contribution to the Police Athletic League of New York City though his Abreu's Finest charity wine to provide boys and girls with recreational, educational, cultural and social programs.

Bobby is known as "El Comedulce" in Venezuela. The name translates roughly to "the candy-eater," which had been his father Nelson Abreu's nickname. Following Nelson's death, Bobby "began asking people to call him the same name as a way of honoring his father's memory.