Shea Hillenbrand

From SoSH

Shea Hillenbrand (born July 27, 1975 in Mesa, Arizona) was the Red Sox third baseman from 2001-2003. He is currently a member of the San Diego Padres organization.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Hillenbrand's Moments in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Awards 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Overall Career

Shea Hillenbrand was drafted in the 10th round of the 1996 First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox. He was the 301st player drafted overall. He was just one of four players from the 10th round to ever make it to the Majors, along with Luis Matos, Phil Norton, and Doug Davis. He was assigned to A- Lowell, where he hit .315/.361/.416 with 2 HR in 279 AB's at the age of 21.

He started the 1997 season with Sarasota and only posted a .699 OPS before being demoted to Michigan and ending up with a .323 OBP and 415 SLG in the Midwest League.

In 1998, he was with Michigan again and had the best year of his MiLB career, hitting .349 with a .377 OBP, and a .546 SLG. He was the All-Star catcher for the Midwest League. The following year he was promoted to AA Trenton. He hit only .259 with no plate discipline or power to the tune of a .259/.299/.387 line in just 69 games. He came back strong in 2000 and hit .323 with 11 HR and an OPS of .813. That would be his last appearance in the Minors until a 3 game stint with Tucson in 2003.

Hillenbrand finally made it up to the big club in 2001 as the Boston Red Sox third baseman. He went 1-4 with a strikeout in his Major League debut versus Baltimore on April 2, 2001. His first career HR came on April 7 against Tampa Bay. He would end up having a very disappointing season as a 26 year old rookie hitting just .263/.291/.391.

Hillenbrand was given another chance to be the Red Sox 3B in 2002 and responded very nicely. He hit 18 HR and 43 doubles to go along with a solid .293/.330/.459 line and good defense. He was the starting third baseman for the American League All-Star team in Milwaukee.

In the 2002 offseason, the Red Sox signed David Ortiz, Bill Mueller, and Kevin Millar. Ortiz was looking for playing time at 1B/DH, Mueller at 3B, and Millar at 1B. Shea played some first base while Mueller tore the cover off the ball and Ortiz had untapped potential. Shea Hillenbrand was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for closer Byung-Hyun Kim opening more playing time for Ortiz, Millar, and Mueller.

Shea went on to have a below average 2003 for Arizona with a good 2004. As a member of the 2005 Toronto Blue Jays, he was named to his second All-Star team. Hillenbrand's time in Toronto was cut short in July 2006 when manager John Gibbons challenged him to a fight after the infielder wrote defamatory comments about the team on the clubhouse bulletin board. While no blows were exchanged, Hillenbrand was designated for assignment and traded with Vinnie Chulk to the San Francisco Giants for Jeremy Accardo.

Hillenbrand signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on December 26, 2006, but was designated for assignment on June 29, 2007 and eventually released on July 9, 2007. Hillenbrand hit just .254/.275/.325, with an OPS+ of 62 in 197 at-bats with Anaheim.

On July 27, 2007, the San Diego Padres signed Hillenbrand to a minor league contract.

Hillenbrand's Moments in the Sun

• Hit a go-ahead home run off Mariano Rivera on April 13, 2002.
• Went 5-5 on July 7, 2003 for Arizona with 3 HR and 7 RBI.

Trivia

• Named as the starting 3B to the 2002 American League All-Star team
• May 20, 2002: Shea Hillenbrand pokes a 3-run homer, a 303 ft. drive around the Pesky pole, one of the shortest homers in decades. It lands in the front-row lap of a youngster.
• Earned 1993 Arizona State High School Player of the Year honors as a soccer forward.

Awards

• 1998 Midwest League All-Star (A)
• 2000 Eastern League All-Star (AA)
• 2-time American League All-Star (2002, 2005)

Transactions

• June 4, 1996: Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 10th round of the 1996 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1996.
• January 29, 2000: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
• May 29, 2003: Traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Byung-Hyun Kim.
• January 12, 2005: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Toronto Blue Jays for Adam Peterson.
• July 21, 2006: Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Vinnie Chulk to the San Francisco Giants for Jeremy Accardo.
• December 26, 2006: Signed as a Free Agent with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
• July 9, 2007: Released by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
• July 27, 2007: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Shea Hillenbrand at ESPN.com