American baseball player & coach (born 1973)
Baseball player
Brian Buchanan
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Right fielder
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Born:
(
1973-07-21
)
July 21, 1973
(age 50)
Miami
, Florida, U.S.
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Batted:
Right
Threw:
Right
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|
MLB:
May 19, 2000, for the Minnesota Twins
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NPB:
March 29, 2007, for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
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MLB:
August 29, 2004, for the New York Mets
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NPB:
2007, for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
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Batting average
| .258
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Home runs
| 32
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Runs batted in
| 103
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Batting average
| .285
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Home runs
| 11
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Runs batted in
| 48
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As player
As coach
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Brian James Buchanan
(born July 21, 1973) is an American former professional baseball
outfielder
and
coach
. He played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) from 2000 through 2004 for the
Minnesota Twins
,
San Diego Padres
, and the
New York Mets
, and in
Nippon Professional Baseball
(NPB) for the
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
in 2007.
Early life
[
edit
]
Buchanan was born in
Miami
, on July 21, 1973. He attended
Fairfax High School
in
Fairfax, Virginia
, where he excelled not only at hitting but at first base as well, and was named First Team All-Region for all of
Northern Virginia
. The team finished the regular season with a 17?4 record. Fairfax teammate
Bill Pulsipher
also made it to the Major Leagues after being drafted in the second round of the
1991 MLB draft
by the
New York Mets
.
A standout player at the
University of Virginia
(UVA), in 1993 Buchanan played
collegiate summer baseball
with the
Brewster Whitecaps
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League
, and in 1994 returned to the Cape League to play for the
Hyannis Mets
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He was drafted by the
New York Yankees
in the first round (24th overall) of the
1994 MLB draft
. Buchanan still holds Virginia baseball season records for home runs, slugging percentage, and total bases. He was the first University of Virginia player to be chosen in the first round of the MLB draft and was inducted into the Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.
[4]
Playing career
[
edit
]
New York Yankees
[
edit
]
From 1994 through 1997, Buchanan played in the
New York Yankees
'
minor league
system, advancing to the
Triple-A
level. While playing at Class A Greensboro, a horrific ankle injury in the spring of 1995 nearly ended Buchanan's career after his left foot hit first base at an awkward angle. Doctors were uncertain that Buchanan would recover, let alone play baseball again.
[5]
Minnesota Twins
[
edit
]
The
New York Yankees
traded Buchanan,
Eric Milton
,
Cristian Guzman
, and
Danny Mota
to the
Minnesota Twins
for
Chuck Knoblauch
on February 6, 1998.
[6]
With the Twins, Buchanan made his MLB debut in the 2000 season, appearing in 30 games. He went on to play 69 games with the Twins in 2001, and 44 games in 2002. In his 143 games with the Twins, he batted .258 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs.
San Diego Padres
[
edit
]
In July 2002, Buchanan was traded to the
San Diego Padres
for
Jason Bartlett
. He appeared in 48 games with the Padres in 2002, batting .293; 115 games in 2003, batting .263; and 38 games in 2004, batting .200. He had a total of 16 home runs and 48 RBIs with the Padres. During his time with the Padres, Buchanan was considered one of the most feared right-handed pinch hitters in the game.
[
citation needed
]
He was one of the few hitters in the league who would wear only one batting glove, and batting glove company, Franklin, decided to come out with a signature "Buck" batting glove.
[
citation needed
]
New York Mets
[
edit
]
In 2004, Buchanan appeared in two games with the
New York Mets
; he was hitless in three at bats. Overall in his
MLB
career, Buchanan appeared in 346 games, batting .258 with 32 home runs and 103 RBIs.
Late career
[
edit
]
During 2006, Buchanan played for the
St. Paul Saints
of the
American Association of Independent Professional Baseball
. After the 2006 season, he joined the
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
in Japan, after two years playing in the minors for the
Rochester Red Wings
,
Colorado Springs Sky Sox
, and
Louisville Bats
. Buchanan played 99 games for the Hawks, mostly as a
DH
, batting .285 with 11 home runs and 48 RBI.
During the 2007?08 offseason, Buchanan signed a minor league contract with the
Kansas City Royals
and became a
free agent
after the season. In January 2009, he re-signed with the Royals and played for their Triple-A affiliate, the
Omaha Royals
, and even made
relief pitching
appearances on several occasions. Buchanan retired on November 18, 2009.
Post-playing career
[
edit
]
Buchanan was
manager
for the
Idaho Falls Chukars
of the
Pioneer Baseball League
in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he was manager of the
Kane County Cougars
of the Class A
Midwest League
. In 2013, he became manager of the
Lexington Legends
in the Class A
South Atlantic League
. Buchanan was promoted to assistant hitting instructor for the
Kansas City Royals
for the 2017 season. He was named as the hitting coach for the
Omaha Storm Chasers
of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate for the Kansas City Royals on January 10, 2018. He remains the hitting coach for the Storm Chasers as of February 2021.
[7]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Buchanan is married to Jill Havlicek; his father-in-law was the late
Basketball Hall of Fame
inductee
John Havlicek
.
[8]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League"
(PDF)
. capecodbaseball.org
. Retrieved
January 9,
2020
.
- ^
Eldred, Rich (June 30, 1994).
"Huskie Brakes Mets Skid"
.
Yarmouth Register
. Yarmouth, MA. p. 12.
- ^
"For Mets, It's not how you start..."
Barnstable Patriot
. Barnstable, MA. July 21, 1994. p. 7.
- ^
Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018
- ^
"Make No Bones About It: Ankle Injuries Disastrous"
.
Chicago Tribune
. 16 July 1999.
- ^
Maske, Mark (February 7, 1998).
"Yanks Get Knoblauch in a Deal With Twins"
.
Washington Post
. Retrieved
November 10,
2023
.
- ^
"Storm Chasers Announce Coaching Staff for 2021 Season"
. 19 February 2021.
- ^
Flanagan, Jeffrey (January 12, 2017).
"Q&A: Get to know assistant hitting coach Buchanan"
.
MLB.com
.
External links
[
edit
]
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- 1965
:
Burbach
- 1966
:
Lyttle
- 1967
:
Blomberg
- 1968
:
Munson
- 1969
:
Spikes
- 1970
:
Cheadle
- 1971
:
Whitfield
- 1972
:
McGregor
- 1973
: Heinhold
- 1974
:
Sherrill
- 1975
: McDonald
- 1976
:
Tabler
- 1977
: S. Taylor
- 1978
:
Hudler
,
Winters
, Ryder
- 1979:
None
- 1980:
None
- 1981:
None
- 1982:
None
- 1983:
None
- 1984
: Pries
- 1985
: Balabon
- 1986:
None
- 1987:
None
- 1988:
None
- 1989:
None
- 1990
:
Everett
- 1991
:
B. Taylor
- 1992
:
Jeter
- 1993
:
Drews
- 1994
:
Buchanan
- 1995
:
Morenz
- 1996
:
Milton
- 1997
:
Godwin
,
Bradley
- 1998
: Brown,
Prior
- 1999
: Walling
- 2000
: Parrish
- 2001
:
Griffin
,
Sardinha
, Skaggs
- 2002:
None
- 2003
:
Duncan
- 2004
:
Hughes
, Poterson,
Marquez
- 2005
:
Henry
- 2006
:
Kennedy
,
Chamberlain
- 2007
:
Brackman
- 2008
:
Cole
,
Bleich
- 2009
:
Heathcott
- 2010
:
Culver
- 2011
:
Bichette
- 2012
:
Hensley
- 2013
:
Jagielo
,
Judge
,
Clarkin
- 2014:
None
- 2015
:
Kaprielian
,
Holder
- 2016
:
Rutherford
- 2017
:
Schmidt
- 2018
:
Seigler
- 2019
:
Volpe
- 2020
:
Wells
- 2021
:
Sweeney
- 2022
:
Jones
- 2023
:
Lombard Jr.
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