Eric Chavez

Eric Cesar Chavez (born December 7, 1977) is an American professional baseball coach and former third baseman.

Chavez's high school success was such that in the 1996 Major League Baseball draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the first round as the tenth pick.

Chavez eventually chose a professional baseball career over a full scholarship at the University of Southern California (USC), signing with the Athletics on August 27, 1996.

His time in the minor leagues was relatively short, lasting just under two seasons.

He spent the 1997 season playing for the Visalia Oaks, the Single-A team in the Athletics' farm system.

He played 134 games, all at third base, and hit .271 with 18 home runs and 100 RBI.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1998–2010), New York Yankees (2011–2012), and Arizona Diamondbacks (2013–2014).

Before the start of the 1998 season, Chavez was promoted to the Double-A Huntsville Stars.

After 88 games, he had a batting average of .328, 28 home runs, 86 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, and a triple.

His efforts caused him to be promoted to the Edmonton Trappers, where in 47 games he hit 11 home runs and had a .325 batting average.

When Edmonton's season finished up on September 8, 1998, he was called up to the major leagues.

He finished his minor league career by receiving both the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award and the Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award.

He made his major league debut on September 8, 1998, in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, where he came in as a pinch hitter for Mike Blowers and struck out in his only at bat.

He finished the 1998 season having played in 16 games, and ending with a .311 batting average, as well as a triple.

In the 27 games of September and October in 2001, Chavez hit ten home runs with 31 RBIs, a .379 batting average and a .738 slugging percentage resulting in him being named the American League Player of the Month for the only time in his career.

Chavez won six consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards from 2001 to 2006.

During his playing career, Chavez won six Gold Glove Awards (–) and a Silver Slugger Award (2002).

Chavez served as the hitting coach for the New York Mets in 2022 and presently is in the position of bench coach.

Chavez was the second of four children born to Cesar and Ruby Chavez in Los Angeles, California.

Cesar, who was born in Mexico, was a custodian at an elementary school and Ruby worked at Rancho Bernardo High School.

Chavez was baptized Catholic but his mother converted to Protestantism when he was eight or nine years old.

Although all four of Chavez's grandparents were from Mexico, he did not learn to speak Spanish.

Chavez was an early childhood friend as well as a high school teammate of Eric Munson at Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego.

They were among only ten players named to the USA Today All-USA high school baseball team.

Chavez was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Second Team.

He was a part of the A's 20 consecutive game winning streak in 2002.

In, the Athletics signed him to a six-year, $66 million contract extension; it was the largest contract guarantee made by the Athletics.

, the contract (equivalent to $ million in ) remains the largest in franchise history.

Between –, his batting average remained consistent, hitting in the .270–.280 range.

His home runs hit remained steady, hitting 29 in 2003 and 2004, and 27 in 2005.

However, his offense production dropped in 2006, with his batting average dropping to .241, despite hitting 22 home runs.

This slump continued into, hitting .240 and 15 home runs.

Through his first ten years with the A's, Chavez played 1256 games and batted .269.

He had 227 home runs and 762 RBIs.

Chavez batted .250 and slugged .445 in April and in May combined, but batted .294 and slugged .544 in June, July and August, continuing a constant theme in the Oakland A's organization in that they are a "second half" team.

He started the season on the disabled list, due to back pain.

He was activated from the disabled list on May 29.

On July 2, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list again with right shoulder inflammation.

On June 14, 2009, Chavez was placed on the disabled list once again due to back pain, this time out for the season.

Chavez became a free agent at the conclusion of the 2010 season when the Oakland A's declined a club option to keep him on the roster for the 2011 season.