Aaron Roe Ward Cunningham (born April 24, 1986) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Major League Career

Cunningham was drafted by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

in the sixth round of the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

Arizona Diamondbacks

After two years in the White Sox organization, he was traded to the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

for

Danny Richar Danny Adam Richar (born June 9, 1983) is a Dominican professional baseball player who is currently a free agent. In a three-season Major League Baseball career as a second baseman for the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, Richar had a .229 ...

on June 16, 2007.

Oakland Athletics

On December 14, 2007, he was acquired by the

in the trade that sent

Dan Haren Daniel John Haren (born September 17, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Haren played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Wa ...

to the Diamondbacks. He was called up from the minors for the first time on August 30, . Cunningham played in 22 games for Oakland in 2008 and 23 games in 2009, playing both left and right field.

San Diego Padres

On January 16, 2010, Cunningham and

Scott Hairston Scott Alexander Hairston (born May 25, 1980) is a Mexican-American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs ...

were traded to the

for

Kevin Kouzmanoff Kevin Kouzmanoff (born July 25, 1981) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers. Kouzm ...

and

Eric Sogard Eric Sidney Sogard (born May 22, 1986) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, and Chicago C ...

. In Cunningham's first start as a Padres player on June 15 he hit a grand slam to center field in his first at bat. In 2010, Cunningham split time between the majors and the Triple-A club. While in the majors, he served as a reserve corner outfielder, starting 30 games and hitting a career high .288 in 132 at-bats. In 2011, Cunningham again split time between the minors and majors, making 20 starts with the Padres at the corner outfield positions. He hit .329 in 87 games with the Triple-A

Tucson Padres The Tucson Padres were a minor league baseball team representing Tucson, Arizona in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). They were the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team moved to Tucson from Portland, Oregon for the 2011 season. I ...

, but only .178 in 90 at-bats with the big league club.

Cleveland Indians

On December 16, 2011, Cunningham was traded to the

for minor league pitcher

Cory Burns Cory Wade Burns (born October 9, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers and Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic Lea ...

. Cunningham broke camp with the big league club in 2012 and played in a career high 72 games, starting 21 games across all three outfield positions. He was mostly used as a late-inning defensive replacement and batted .175 in 97 at-bats. On July 24 he laid down a successful

suicide squeeze Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance a ...

bunt to score the winning run in a game against Detroit. Cunningham was designated for assignment on July 25 and he finished the year with the Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

Texas Rangers

On November 12, 2012, Cunningham signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers with an invitation to spring training.

Chicago Cubs

He signed a minor league deal with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in November 2013.

2nd Stint With Arizona

Cunningham signed a minor league deal with Arizona in March 2014 but was released a few months later. He re-signed on September 2, 2014. On March 24, 2015, Cunningham was released by the Diamondbacks.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Aaron 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Baseball players from Alaska Major League Baseball outfielders Oakland Athletics players San Diego Padres players Cleveland Indians players Bristol White Sox players Kannapolis Intimidators players Everett Trojans baseball players Midland RockHounds players Mobile BayBears players Portland Beavers players Sacramento River Cats players Tucson Padres players Visalia Oaks players Winston-Salem Warthogs players Columbus Clippers players Round Rock Express players Reno Aces players