Allen Craig

His parents had moved to the Temecula Valley in the 1970s so that Mr. Craig could secure employment with the Rancho California Water District.

In addition to relocating from Mission Viejo in Orange County to Temecula in Riverside County after Craig's birth, the family shifted residences multiple times before finally settling in Temecula.

Craig's father was an early volunteer to help build the baseball fields that became the Ronald Reagan Sports Complex near Temecula Valley High School in Temecula, California.

As soon as he was able to swing a baseball bat, his parents entered him into the national Tee Ball division of Little League Baseball where his father coached and his mother served on the board of directors.

While participating on the 14-and-under USA Baseball team, he played games in Venezuela.

At Chaparral High School, Temecula, California, Craig was a two-sport standout athlete in baseball and basketball.

Allen Thomas Craig (born July 18, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

As a senior in 2002, Craig was recognized in both sports.

He earned first team all-league and all-valley honors in basketball while setting a school record with 94 three-pointers.

In baseball, he was named All-Valley Baseball Player of the Year.

At the Riverside All-Star Game, he earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolade.

His .585 batting average and eight home runs helped energize Chaparral to the Southwest League title.

That summer, Craig played for the USA Junior National team, batting .485 with 11 runs scored in their effort to earn a bronze medal at the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) World Junior Championship in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

After high school, Craig attended the University of California, Berkeley, and was a four-year starter for the California Golden Bears baseball team at all four infield positions.

Primarily playing shortstop as a freshman, he posted a .353 batting average with runners in scoring position (RISP).

He earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors for February 4–10, 2003, after his 7-for-17 (.412) effort with two doubles, a grand slam and five runs batted in (RBI) at San Francisco and versus Loyola Marymount.

Applying more time at first base in his sophomore season, Craig batted .285, led the team with 29 bases on balls (BB) and aggregated 19 multi-hit games.

He was an honorable mention for the Pac-10 all-academic team.

The next year, Craig started primarily in left field, batted .308 overall, and batted .338 with RISP.

His first season was in 2003, after his freshman season at UC.

He batted just .229 in 15 games in which his playing time was cut short by injury.

Against Washington State, March 22–24, 2005, he put together a 7–13 series (.538).

One month later, on April 22, Craig collected three hits in three at-bats and two days later went 4–4; both games were against USC.

Craig was an honorable mention for the All-Pacific-10 baseball team and again for the academic team.

His career batting numbers at UC Berkeley included a .308 batting average, 27 home runs and 108 RBI.

During his off-season playing time at UC Berkeley, Craig played two campaigns for the Alexandria Beetles (Minnesota) of the Northwoods League (NWL), a collegiate summer baseball league.

Craig spent most games at shortstop but also contributed in the outfield, at third base, and first base.

He returned in 2005 after his junior season and put together a landmark NWL season that included a 21-game hitting streak.

The Cardinals drafted Craig from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006, and he made his Major League debut with them in 2010.

Each season in the minor leagues from 2007 to 2009, Craig finished with a batting average of over .300 with at least 20 home runs.

In the 2011 World Series, he tied a record by collecting three hits that drove in the game-winning run.

In 2012, he posted a .400 batting average with RISP.

The next season, he raised that figure to .454, the third-highest average of all time.

Craig has appeared in two World Series and in both made history.

A .306 career hitter in MLB through 2013, he increased his production with runners in scoring position (RISP).

In 2013, he became the first player to score a game-winning run on an obstruction call.

He is currently an Advisor to Baseball Operations for the San Diego Padres.

Allen Craig was born in Mission Viejo, California, to Ron and Kim Craig and raised in Temecula, California.

He has one younger sister named Kendal.