Michael Bourn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Houston Astros — No. 14 | |
| Center field | |
| Born: December 27, 1982 | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| July 30, 2006 for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through June 11, 2008) |
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| Batting average | .239 |
| Runs scored | 56 |
| Home runs | 4 |
| Stolen bases | 43 |
| Teams | |
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Michael Ray Bourn (born December 27, 1982, in Houston, Texas), is a Major League Baseball player for the Houston Astros.
Bourn was raised in Houston, where he attended Nimitz High School, graduating in 2000.
[edit] Baseball career
Bourn earned an NCAA Division I baseball scholarship at the University of Houston, where he played for three seasons. While he displayed little power, collecting only two home runs and 23 extra-base hits in 644 at-bats, he won attention from professional scouts by posting a .431 on-base percentage and stealing 90 bases in 119 attempts.
In June 2003, immediately following his junior year season, Bourn was drafted in the 4th round (115th overall) of baseball's first-year player draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, who were attempting that season to stockpile players with speed. Bourn signed shortly after the draft and was assigned to play for the Batavia Muckdogs of the short-season New York - Penn League.
In 2004, Bourn broke out as a legitimate major league prospect with an outstanding season as the starting center fielder for the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Low-A South Atlantic League. Bourn ended the season with a .433 on-base percentage and an OPS of .903, earning 85 bases on balls in 109 games. He also stole 57 bases in 63 attempts - a success rate of over ninety percent. Following the season, he was named to Baseball America's Top Ten Prospects list for the Phillies organization.
Despite posting mediocre batting statistics, including a .713 OPS, for the following one-and-one-half seasons for the Reading Phillies of the Eastern League, Bourn was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the International League late in July 2006. In early September 2006, Bourn took a brief hiatus from his professional obligations to play for the USA Olympic qualifying team, for whom he uncharacteristically hit two home runs to help Team USA defeat Cuba in the gold-medal game. Bourn was then promoted to the expanded major league roster. He was sent to home plate to bat only 11 times during the month of September, but was used frequently as a pinch runner as the Phillies competed for the National League's wild card position (ultimately coming up two games short) to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Disappointingly, he stole only one base in three attempts during the month, and was memorably tagged out after accidentally oversliding second base on what initially looked to be a successful steal attempt in a crucial late-season loss against the Washington Nationals on September 26, 2006.[1]
[edit] 2007
After a strong performance during spring training in 2007, Bourn unexpectedly won a position on the Phillies' major league roster to begin the year. He was used sparingly, appearing primarily as a frequent defensive replacement in left field for Pat Burrell.
On July 27, Bourn was in the Phillies' starting lineup for the first time due to injuries to both Chase Utley and Aaron Rowand, and had his first 4-hit game in an 8-1 rout of the Pirates, in which he scored two runs.
Bourn was third among all NL rookies with 18 stolen bases, and was caught only once.[2] He batted .277.
On July 15, 2007, Bourn hit his first career home run as the Phillies recorded their 10,000th franchise loss by losing to the St. Louis Cardinals 10-2.
On November 7, 2007 Bourn was traded along with Geoff Geary and Michael Costanzo to the Houston Astros for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett. According to new Houston General Manager Ed Wade, Bourn will become the Astros' leadoff hitter and starting center fielder, moving Hunter Pence to right field.
[edit] External links
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