Chris Duncan

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Please improve this article if you can. (June 2008)

**Chris Duncan**

St. Louis Cardinals — No. 16
Left field
Born: May 5, 1981 (1981-05-05) (age 27)
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
September 10, 2005 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Selected MLB statistics (through June 3, 2008)
Batting average	.269
Home Runs	48
Runs batted in	132
Slugging percentage	.505
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2005-present)

Christopher Edward Duncan (born May 5, 1981 in Tucson, Arizona) is an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the son of former Oakland Athletics catcher and current St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan. His older brother Shelley plays for the Yankees. His current batting music is "Bombtrack" By Rage Against The Machine.

1 Playing career
2 Player Analysis
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Early life

Duncan is a graduate of Canyon del Oro High School in the Tucson suburb of Oro Valley. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 1999 and made his debut with the big club on September 10, 2005. On October 2, 2005, he became the last player to hit a home run at Busch Memorial Stadium during the regular season.

[edit] 2006

After spending most of the first half of the 2006 season working his way into the regular roster, he has become a great find for the Cardinals. In 2006, he was third in all of baseball behind David Ortiz and Ryan Howard in homers per at bat for players with at least 75 at-bats. For the season, Duncan hit 22 home runs in only 280 at-bats.

In the 2006 World Series, Duncan appeared in three of the five games, batting 1 for 8 with an RBI. He committed an error in the fourth inning of Game 5 which was promptly followed by a two-run homer by Sean Casey, and misplayed a fly ball by Casey, which was ruled a double, in the sixth inning. However, Duncan and the Cardinals won the game and the Series, defeating the Detroit Tigers four games to one.

Following the 2006 season, Duncan was named the team's Rookie of the Year. ^[1]

[edit] 2007-2008

So far in the 2007 season (through Sept. 9), Chris Duncan has become a regular starter, playing 126 of the team's 162 games that season. He's batting .259/.355/.481. He has 21 home runs (2nd on team) and 70 RBIs (2nd on team), and third in doubles (20). He's also second in total bases (180). He leads the team in strikeouts with 122.

Duncan was sent to AAA Memphis after a less then expected start and Joe Mather was brought up to take his place.

On Sept. 20th, 2007 Chris underwent surgery for a sports hernia, it was successful and joined the team back in the clubhouse on Sept. 22nd. His brother, Shelley, also is suffering a sports hernia, tests will be done after Shelley has his surgery to see if it is a genetic condition. It turns out that the brothers are very competitive and have been trying to outdo one another in their workouts and pushed it too hard.

[edit] Player Analysis

Duncan is a solid left-handed hitter who is capable of great power. As a fielder, he is most comfortable as a first baseman, but this position was already taken by Albert Pujols, causing Duncan to be placed in the outfield, except occasionally when filling in for Pujols. Although he has struggled as an outfielder, he has shown significant defensive improvement in 2007. His youth is also an excellent addition to the Cardinals outfield, which has featured aging players in recent years (such as Jim Edmonds, Reggie Sanders, and Larry Walker).