Andre Ethier

Andre Everett Ethier (born April 10, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder.

Andre Ethier was born on April 10, 1982, in Phoenix.

Ethier attended St. Mary's High School (Phoenix, Arizona).

He is one of seven children born to Byron Ethier and Priscilla Ethier.

He has three brothers – Adam, Devon and Steven, and three sisters – Catherine, Belinda and Shaye.

His father Byron comes from a mixed background of French Canadian and Cherokee cultures and his mother Priscilla is Mexican American.

His grandfather, Pierre "Pete" Ethier, played professional minor league baseball, reaching as high as the AAA level.

Andre Ethier's father, Byron Ethier, was also a baseball player and was coached under legend Gary Ward at Yavapai JC; he went as far as winning a JC national title while playing there.

Ethier transferred to Chandler-Gilbert Community College after playing with Arizona State University in the fall of 2000.

The coaching staff at ASU told him that they thought he did not have Division I talent, and that he would do better to play junior college ball.

At CGCC, Ethier batted .468 and accumulated 94 hits, 32 of which were doubles.

He was named team MVP.

During the summer of 2001, he played with the Keene Swamp Bats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Ethier re-enrolled at ASU in the fall of 2001 and played there until the end of his junior year in 2003 with an ASU career batting average of .371, 113 runs, 27 doubles, 7 triples, 14 home runs and 118 runs batted in.

His collegiate career ended in the midst of a 23-game hitting streak.

Ethier was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 37th round of the 2001 amateur draft.

He was a two-time Pacific-10 Conference All-Star in 2002–03.

While at ASU he was a teammate and good friends with Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler.

During the summer of 2002, Ethier played with the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate baseball leagues.

Ethier led the team with 34 RBIs and won a Silver Glove for his play in right field.

Drafted in the second round (62nd pick overall) of the 2003 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics, Ethier played in the major leagues from 2006 through 2017, all for the Dodgers.

Opting to attend ASU instead, he was drafted in the second round of the 2003 amateur draft, again by the Oakland Athletics.

He signed with the Athletics on July 1, 2003.

Oakland assigned him to the Single-A Vancouver Canadians and later to the Kane County Cougars for the 2003 season.

His minor-league career continued in 2004 with the Modesto Athletics, where he hit .313, and in 2005 with the Midland RockHounds Double-A team, where he hit .319 with 18 homers and was selected as the Texas League Most Valuable Player, Oakland Athletics Minor League Player of the Year, Texas League All-Star Outfielder and Texas League All-Star Game MVP.

He also played four games in 2005 with the Sacramento River Cats Triple-A team.

On December 13, 2005, Ethier was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 to 2017 and is second all-time in post-season appearances as a Dodger with 51.

Ethier hit a double and drew a walk in his Major League Baseball debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 2, 2006, against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his home state of Arizona and hit his first home run the next night, against Dewon Brazelton of the San Diego Padres.

On May 19, Ethier had a breakout game, going 5-for-5 with four runs scored as he raised his batting average from .222 to .317.

He remained hot throughout the summer and was named National League Player of the Week for the week ending July 9.

Ethier's average peaked at .354 before a late slump dropped it to .308 at season's end.

An early front-runner for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, he finished fifth in voting.

Ethier entered the 2007 season expecting to split time with Matt Kemp, and Luis Gonzalez in the outfield, but Ethier got a lot of playing time early due to an injury to Kemp.

Career highlights include All-Star selections in 2010 and 2011, a Silver Slugger Award in 2009, and a Gold Glove Award in 2011.

Primarily a right fielder throughout his career, Ethier also filled in at left field and center field for the Dodgers.

One of his three brothers, Devon, also played baseball at Gateway Community College and was drafted by the Dodgers in the 32nd round of the 2010 MLB draft.

In 2010, Ethier was inducted into the NECBL Hall of Fame.

Due to leg and back injuries, he had only 58 at bats in the 2016 and 2017 regular seasons, combined.