Robert Raymond Kingsbury (born August 30, 1980) is an American baseball player. He went to school at Fordham where he set an NCAA record for

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

in a game (8), and was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in the 8th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but his excellent glove, a quick bat, an intelligent hitting approach, and his work ethic "could have given him a third or fourth-round pick if he'd gone to a warm-weather college". He is a two-time

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

Player of the Year award winner and went on to play in the

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

organization. Kingsbury was the first baseball player to consecutively earn Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Awards, in 2001 and 2002. During the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

held in Athens, Greece, Kingsbury, who has a Greek grandmother, was given the chance to play for the host nation, Greece. Most of the players on the Greek baseball team were Americans with Greek heritage, including North Florida coach

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

, and

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 ...

scout John Kazanas,

Clay Bellinger Clayton Daniel Bellinger (born November 18, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball player. He played in MLB for the New York Yankees and the Anaheim Angels, winning the World Series twice as a member of the Yankees. His son, Cody, was the 2019 ...

of the Orioles, outfielders

Nick Markakis Nicholas William Markakis ( ) (born November 17, 1983) is a Greek-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves. Markakis was the Orioles ...

the Orioles and Nick Theodorou of the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, and catchers

Mike Tonis Michael Timothy Tonis (born February 9, 1979) is a Greek-American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals. Career Tonis attended Elk Grove High School and was drafted in the 52nd ...

Royals Royals may refer to: Entertainment * The Royals (band), a Jamaican reggae vocal group * The Royals, original name of The Midnighters * "Royals" (song), a 2013 single by Lorde * ''The Royals'' (TV series), a 2015 E! network drama series * ''The ...

and

George Kottaras George Kottaras ( ; born May 10, 1983) is a Canadian former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Card ...

of the Padres. Kingsbury, an alumnus and 2008 Hall of Fame inductee of

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

and current member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, picked up one of the biggest hits of the tournament for Greece, an RBI triple, in their lone win, which came against Italy in the preliminary round. In the spring of 2006, Kingsbury was invited to the Pirates major-league camp in Bradenton, Florida, as a non-roster invitee. During the seventh inning of the first game against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, Kingsbury dove for a ball in right field and upon hitting the ground dislocated his left throwing shoulder. He ended his 2006 campaign after suffering a full rotator cuff tear and a tear in his labrum.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsbury, Bobby Fordham Rams baseball players 1980 births 21st-century American sportspeople Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics American people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Living people Olympic baseball players for Greece Greek baseball players Baseball players from Cleveland Williamsport Crosscutters players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players