Aubrey Huff
Aubrey Lewis Huff III is an American former professional baseball player who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball. Huff played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and San Francisco Giants; he was a member of two World Series championship teams for the Giants. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Huff attended Vernon College and the University of Miami, where he finished his career second in school batting average. He was drafted by the Devil Rays in the sixth round in 1998, and debuted with them in 2000. In 2002, he finished tenth in the American League in batting average. He set a career high in 2003 with 34 home runs and batted.311 with 107 runs batted in, while tying for the lead in errors among AL right fielders with six. Next season, he batted.297 with 24 home runs and 104 RBI. In 2005, he batted.261 with 22 home runs and 92 RBI. During the 2006 season, he was traded to the Astros.
In 2007, Huff signed a three-year contract with the Orioles. He hit 15 home runs his first season with the Orioles, his lowest total since 2001. In 2008, he won the Silver Slugger Award for the designated hitter position after batting.304 with 32 home runs and a career-high 108 RBI. During the 2009 season, he was traded to the Tigers. He became a free agent after the season and signed a one-year deal with the Giants. He batted.290 with 26 home runs in 2010, reached the playoffs for the first time, and won his first World Series. He signed a two-year deal with the Giants in 2011, and batted.246 and hit 12 home runs, his lowest total since 2001. In 2012, he batted.192, was used mostly as a pinch hitter, and appeared in a career-low 52 games but won his second World Series with the Giants. The team paid a $2 million buyout to release him.
In January 2014, Huff announced his retirement from baseball, and took a position as a baseball color commentator for eight months.
Early life
Huff was born in Marion, Ohio, and grew up in Mineral Wells, Texas. In 1983, when he was six years old, his father, Aubrey II, was shot and killed as an innocent bystander in a domestic dispute while working as an electrician. When his mother told him that his father had been killed, Huff later wrote: "I went back to watching The Transformers on television. I remember thinking, ‘He was never here anyway.’" Huff's mother Fonda then raised him and his sister Angela.Growing up, Huff regularly practiced baseball in his yard, which had a batting cage with lights and a pitching machine. He said, " it more to keep me out of trouble." He grew up rooting for the Texas Rangers, and frequently attended their games. One of his favorite players was Nolan Ryan. Huff initially attended Mineral Wells High School, but transferred to Brewer High School when his family moved to Fort Worth. While he was selected to the All-District baseball team in high school, he was better known as a basketball player. He graduated in 1995.
College career
Huff attended Vernon College for two years and was named the Most Valuable Player of its baseball team in 1996. He transferred to the University of Miami for his final two years of college baseball. As a junior, he tied team single-game records for runs in a game and most doubles in a game.As a senior, Huff hit for a.412 batting average, the fourth highest single-season average in school history. His.768 slugging percentage was the second highest in school history. He also hit 21 home runs and a school record of 95 runs batted in. Baseball America, The Sporting News, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named him a first-team All-American.
Huff finished his UM college career with a.400 batting average and a.719 slugging percentage. In 2009, he was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.
Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
Huff was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' fifth-round selection in the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. He spent 1998 with the Charleston RiverDogs of the single-A South Atlantic League, where he batted.321 with 85 hits, 19 doubles, 13 home runs, and 54 RBI in 69 games.In 1999, Huff played for the Orlando Rays of the Double-A Southern League and was named a Southern League postseason All-Star. In 133 games with the Rays, Huff batted.301 with 148 hits, 40 doubles, 22 home runs, and 78 RBI.
Huff began 2000 with the Durham Bulls of the Triple-A International League. In 108 games, he batted.316 with 129 hits, 36 doubles, 20 home runs, and 76 RBI. He was named the International League Rookie of the Year and was named to the postseason All-Star team.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000–2006)
2000
Huff was called up by the Devil Rays at the beginning of August to be the starting third baseman after Vinny Castilla suffered an injury. He had an RBI in his debut on August 2, a 5–3 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Two days later, he got his first career hit against José Mercedes in a 10–9 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. On August 10, he had a season-high three RBI by hitting his first career home run, a game-winning three-run hit against Jason Ryan in a 10–4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. In 39 games, Huff hit.287 with 35 hits, seven doubles, four home runs, and 14 RBI.2001
Huff began the 2001 season with Durham, but was called up on April 13 when Ariel Prieto was sent to the minors. He became the starting third baseman on May 11 when Castilla was released. Huff was moved from third base to first base on August 6 following an injury to Steve Cox. After batting.243 with six home runs and 33 RBI in his first 92 games, he was optioned to Durham on August 23 when Cox came off the disabled list. In September, he was called up to replace Greg Vaughn as the Devil Rays' designated hitter. On September 19, he had three hits and five RBI, including a game-winning single against David Cone, in a 12–2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. He finished the season batting.248 with 102 hits, 25 doubles, eight home runs, and 45 RBI in 111 games. In 17 games at Durham, he batted.288 with 19 hits, six doubles, three home runs, and 10 RBI.2002
Huff missed the first month of 2002 with a broken cheekbone and began the season in the minor leagues before getting called up on May 28 to replace the struggling Jason Tyner on the roster. He started for the rest of the season as a first baseman, a third baseman, or a DH. On July 19, he had four hits, including a home run against Esteban Loaiza, and three RBI in an 11–8 loss to the Blue Jays. He had a 17-game hitting streak from August 23 to September 10, the second-longest streak in franchise history at the time. In 113 games, Huff finished tenth in the American League with a.313 batting average and had 142 hits, 25 doubles, 23 home runs, and 59 RBI. He led the Devil Rays in home runs, marking the first time a player led his team in home runs after starting the season in the minors since 1996, when Tony Clark led the Detroit Tigers. In 32 games with Durham, he batted.325 with 41 hits, nine doubles, three home runs, and 20 RBI.2003
On April 26, 2003, Huff had four hits in a 10–7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. After playing mostly first and third base in April, he took over from George Lombard as the Devil Rays' right fielder for the remainder of the season on April 29. On May 3, he had the first multi-homer game of his career by hitting two two-run home runs against Adam Bernero in an 8–6 victory over the Tigers. He had four hits on June 4 in a 5–2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. On September 6, he stole home plate in a 7–4 victory over the Oakland Athletics. On September 23, he had four hits and hit a home run against Josh Towers in an 8–5 loss to the Blue Jays.In 162 games, he batted.311 with 47 doubles, 34 home runs, and 107 RBI. Huff's single-season totals in hits, doubles, home runs, and RBI had been matched by 11 players in major league history as of 2012. He was tied for 24th in AL Most Valuable Player voting along with Esteban Loaiza and Jason Varitek. Defensively, he tied with Tim Salmon for the lead in errors by AL right fielders with six.
2004
In 2004, Huff spent most of the season playing third base. On May 12, he had five RBI, including a three-run home run against Chan Ho Park, in a 9–8 loss against the Texas Rangers. He saw a streak of 398 consecutive games played snapped on August 22 when he was forced to miss a few games with a minor back injury. On August 27, he had four hits in an 8–7 loss to the Athletics. He would have four hits again on September 23 in a 7–3 loss to the Yankees.Huff finished the season batting.297 with 178 hits, 27 doubles, 29 home runs, and 104 RBI in 157 games. His average, home runs, and RBI were the highest totals among Devil Rays' players.
2005
In 2005, Huff spent most of the year in right field. On April 18, Huff had four RBI and hit the 100th home run of his career, a three-run shot against Jaret Wright in a 19–8 loss to the Yankees. After hitting five home runs in the first three months, Huff hit 17 home runs through the rest of the season. On July 22, he hit the first grand slam of his career, a game-winning home run against Bruce Chen in a 7–5 victory over the Orioles. He was named the AL Player of the Week from July 25 to 31 after he batted.409 with two home runs and 10 RBI. In 148 games, Huff batted.261 with 150 hits, 26 doubles, 22 home runs, and 92 RBI.2006
For 2006, Huff was moved back to third base. He was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career on April 12 with a sprained left knee suffered in a collision with Nick Green the day before. On May 4, he was activated from the DL. On May 19, he hit his first career walk-off home run against Yusmeiro Petit in a 10-inning, 5–4 win over the Marlins. Through July 9, Huff batted.283 with 65 hits, 15 doubles, eight home runs, and 28 RBI in 63 games.Huff ranked among the top ten in several career and single-season records in the history of the Tampa Bay Rays as of 2019. Through 2019, he ranked fifth in games played, at bats, plate appearances, hits, doubles, RBI, and batting average. His 128 home runs ranked third, and his 400 runs scored ranked sixth. He, Longoria and Delmon Young were the only Devil Rays to appear in 162 games in a season. He held Devil Rays' record for hits in a season and doubles in a season, both set in 2003. His batting averages in 2002 and 2003 ranked sixth and seventh, respectively; his home run total in 2003 tied for fifth; and his RBI totals in 2003 and 2004 were fourth and tied for sixth, respectively.