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Eric Chavez

Eric Cesar Chavez (born December 7, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is a Mexican-American third baseman in Major League Baseball who has played for the Oakland Athletics since . Chavez is the last member of the Oakland Athletics team described in the Moneyball era of to . Due to this, Chavez is also seen to be and regarded as the prominent "team leader" of the A's today. From an ESPN.com article by Eric Neel, he came to be known as the "Lion of Alameda County."

During Chavez's career he has won six Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (-).

High school career

Chavez attended Mount Carmel High School in San Diego, California, where he was a two-time Baseball America High School All-American selection. In his junior year, he was the only junior selected nationwide for the honor, finishing the year with a batting average of .535, nine home runs, 35 runs batted in, and 51 stolen bases. As a senior, he batted .458 with 11 home runs, 24 RBI and 33 stolen bases en route to his second All-American selection.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Chavez's high school success was such that in the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the first round as the tenth pick. Chavez eventually chose a professional baseball career over a full scholarship at the University of Southern California (USC), signing with the Athletics on August 27, 1996. His time in the minor leagues was relatively short, lasting just under two seasons. He spent the season playing for the Visalia Oaks, the Single-A team in the Athletics' farm system. He played 134 games, all at third base, and hit .271 with 18 home runs and 100 RBI. Before the start of the 1998 season, Chavez was promoted to the Double-A Huntsville Stars. After 88 games, he had a batting average of .328, 28 home runs, 86 RBI, 12 stolen bases, and a triple. His efforts caused him to be promoted to the Edmonton Trappers, where in 47 games he hit 11 home runs and had a .325 batting average. When Edmonton's season finished up on September 8, 1998, he was called up to the major leagues. He finished his minor league career by being named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America, as well as earning the J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/NAPBL Minor League Player of the Year.

Oakland Athletics

He made his professional debut on September 8, 1998, in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, where he came in as a pinch hitter for Mike Blowers and struck out in his only at-bat. He finished the 1998 season having played in 16 games, and ending with a .311 batting average, as well as a triple.

Chavez won six consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards from 2001–2006. In , the A's signed him to a six-year, $66-million contract extension.

In the 27 games of September and October in 2001, Chavez hit ten home runs with 31 RBI, a .379 batting average and a .738 slugging percentage resulting in him being named the American League Player of the Month for the only time in his career.

Between -, his batting average remained consistent, hitting in the .270-.280 range. His home runs hit remained steady, hitting 29 in 2003 and 2004, and 27 in 2005. However, his offense production dropped in 2006, with his batting average dropping to .241, despite hitting 22 home runs. This slump continued into , hitting .240 and 15 home runs.

Through his first ten years with the A's, Chavez played 1256 games and batted .269. He had 227 home runs and 762 RBI. Chavez batted .250 and slugged .445 in April and in May combined, but batted .294 and slugged .544 in June, July and August, continuing a constant theme in the Oakland A's organization in that they are a "second half" team.

He started the season on the disabled list, due to back pain. He was activated from the disabled list on May 29. On July 2, he was place on the 15-day disabled list again with right shoulder inflammation.

Statistics

Year	Ag	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GDP	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1998	20	OAK	AL	16	45	6	14	4	1	0	6	20	3	1	5	0	0	0	1	1	1	.311	.354	.444	.798
1999	21	OAK	AL	115	356	47	88	21	2	13	50	152	46	4	56	0	0	0	7	1	1	.247	.333	.427	.760
2000	22	OAK	AL	153	501	89	139	23	4	26	86	248	62	8	94	0	5	1	9	2	2	.277	.355	.495	.850
2001	23	OAK	AL	151	552	91	159	43	0	32	114	298	41	9	99	0	7	4	7	8	2	.288	.338	.540	.878
2002	24	OAK	AL	153	585	87	161	31	3	34	109	300	65	13	119	0	2	1	8	8	3	.275	.348	.513	.861
2003	25	OAK	AL	156	588	94	166	39	5	29	101	302	62	10	89	0	3	1	14	8	3	.282	.350	.514	.864
2004	26	OAK	AL	125	475	87	131	20	0	29	77	238	95	10	99	0	4	3	21	6	3	.276	.397	.501	.898
2005	27	OAK	AL	160	625	92	168	40	1	27	101	291	58	4	129	0	9	2	9	6	0	.269	.329	.466	.795
2006	28	OAK	AL	137	485	74	117	24	2	22	72	211	84	6	100	0	6	1	19	3	0	.241	.351	.435	.786
2007	29	OAK	AL	90	341	43	82	21	2	15	46	152	34	2	76	0	4	0	9	4	2	.240	.306	.446	.752
2008	30	OAK	AL	23	89	10	22	7	0	2	14	35	6	0	18	0	0	0	2	0	0	.247	.295	.393	.688
Totals:				1,279	4,642	720	1,247	273	20	229	776	2,247	556	67	884	0	40	13	106	47	17	.269	.346	.484	.830