Jeffrey Hammonds

Jeffrey Bryan Hammonds (born March 5, 1971) is an American former professional baseball player.

After high school, Hammonds was a ninth-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft, though he did not sign.

He reported that he never considered going professional at that point, as his parents insisted he attend college, and that Hammonds' brother, who had signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates out of high school, suffered a career-ending injury while playing in minor league baseball.

Hammonds had scholarship offers to attend Duke University, the University of Notre Dame, and Stanford University and play college baseball.

He chose to attend Stanford University, where he played for the Stanford Cardinal baseball team that competed in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I.

At Stanford, Hammonds broke the Pac-10 single season stolen base record as a freshman, stealing 102 bases in 174 career games.

Hammonds was awarded NCAA Freshman of the Year and voted All-College World Series in 1990 and was also named an All-American in that year.

The Orioles selected Hammonds with the fourth overall selection of the 1992 MLB Draft.

Though he was seen as one of the best prospects in baseball, injuries limited his performance with Baltimore.

During the 1992 season, Hammonds batted .380 with 33 stolen bases in 47 games, and was again named an All-American.

He again led the Cardinal to the 1992 College World Series.

Before the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft, Hammonds indicated that he would sign if offered a $1.8 million signing bonus, which caused Hammonds to fall to the fourth overall selection, where the Baltimore Orioles selected Hammonds with their first-round draft pick.

Frank Robinson, then the Orioles' assistant general manager (GM), met Hammonds at that year's College World Series while scouting, and advised Orioles GM Doug Melvin to pick Hammonds.

The Orioles, regarded as frugal, held a hard line with Hammonds in negotiations, refusing to give a signing bonus as large as $1 million.

Hammonds did not play professionally in 1992 as he competed for the United States national baseball team in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

He faced a two-month road trip across sixteen states by bus, more travel combined with training than employed by any professional team.

Hammonds struggled with the national team initially, but agreed to sign with the Orioles in July 1992, receiving a $975,000 signing bonus, the largest of any player chosen in that draft.

Upon signing, his hitting improved.

Hammonds received a promotion to the Orioles on June 25, becoming the first player chosen in the 1992 MLB draft to reach the majors, where his debut was greeted with fanfare and high expectations.

He batted .305 in 105 at-bats with the Orioles that season, however he suffered a pinched nerve in May, and a neck injury in August.

The Orioles ended his season prematurely to allow Hammonds to recover.

Hammonds was an outfielder and played for the Baltimore Orioles (1993–1998), Cincinnati Reds (1998–1999), Colorado Rockies (2000), Milwaukee Brewers (2001–2003), San Francisco Giants (2003–2004) and the Washington Nationals (2005) in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Before playing professionally, Hammonds played for Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and Stanford University.

At Stanford, Hammonds was named an All-American.

He made his professional debut in 1993 with the Bowie Baysox of the Class-AA Eastern League, where he batted .283, at which point he was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class-AAA International League, where he batted .311.

Hammonds was reunited on the 1993 Orioles with former Stanford teammates Mike Mussina and Paul Carey.

Thought of as a potential candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, at this point Baseball America rated Hammonds the third best prospect in all of baseball.

Hammonds suffered a knee injury during the 1994 season but opted to continue playing despite being told he needed reconstructive knee surgery, with his subsequent performances limited as a result.

When the Orioles needed to reduce their roster from 28 players to 25 in May 1995, Hammonds, who started the season batting 4-for-19, was optioned back to Bowie.

After struggling with the Orioles early in the 1996 season, batting .237 in 56 games, he was demoted back to Rochester in June.

The Orioles included Hammonds in numerous trade proposals that summer, but eventually held on to him.

During his spell with Rochester Hammonds became more selective in his approach at the plate, and was recalled to the Orioles.

Hammonds injured his knee in August and though he returned to the Orioles in September, they left him off their postseason roster, as they asserted that they felt Hammonds was rusty.

Hammonds believed that the snub meant he should be traded, but stopped short of demanding a trade.

Formerly considered a top prospect in the Orioles organization, Hammonds returned to them in 1997 with his role in the organization unclear.

After he was traded to Cincinnati and then to Colorado, he emerged with the Rockies in 2000, and was selected to appear at the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

He signed a three-year, $21.75 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers that off-season, but continued to struggle with injuries.

He had a resurgence with the Giants in 2003, after he was released by the Brewers, but struggled with the Giants in 2004 and Nationals in 2005 before retiring.

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Hammonds grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, He attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, where he played for the school's baseball team.

Without having played a single professional game, Baseball America rated Hammonds as the 19th best prospect in baseball.