Brian Nikola Anderson (born March 11, 1982) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played all or part of five seasons 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), ...

with 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 ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

as an

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 ...

, a position he played professionally until before the 2010 season. He also played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

organizations as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

College career

Anderson is a graduate of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and

Canyon del Oro High School Canyon del Oro High School (CDO) is a comprehensive public high school in Oro Valley, Arizona, located north of Tucson at the base of Pusch Ridge. Established in 1964, CDO is one of three high schools of Amphitheater Public Schools and serves ...

Oro Valley, Arizona Oro Valley, incorporated in 1974, is a suburban town located north of Tucson, Arizona, United States, in Pima County. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town is 47,070, an increase from 29,700 in 2000. Dubbed the "Upscale Te ...

, a suburb of Tucson. All-Star second baseman

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for ...

of the Texas Rangers was his best friend and teammate in high school, where they played with

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 ...

and the brothers

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

and

Shelley Duncan David Shelley Duncan (born September 29, 1979) is an American former professional baseball player. He was a left fielder, designated hitter, and first baseman. Duncan played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Cleveland India ...

. In 2001, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the c ...

, and returned to the league in 2002 to play with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

. Anderson was named the top pro prospect in Arizona and ranked 27th in the nation by

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

. He was named to the Baseball America and USA Today Second-Team All-America team as a junior.

Playing career

Chicago White Sox

Anderson was drafted by the

in the first round (15th overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his major league debut on August 16, 2005 against the Minnesota Twins, finishing the game 2-for-7 in a 16-inning loss. Anderson appeared in 13 games for the White Sox, batting .176 with two home runs and 3 RBI. That offseason, Chicago traded

Aaron Rowand Aaron Ryan Rowand (born August 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball center fielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the San Francisco Giants and won two World Series cham ...

to 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 ...

in a deal that brought

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during th ...

to Chicago, clearing the way for Anderson to become the starting center fielder. In 2006, Anderson showed himself to be a gifted defensive outfielder, though he struggled offensively, finishing with a .225 batting average, eight home runs and 33 RBI in 133 games. He did, however, show signs of improvement in the second half of the season and made some corrections in his swing mechanics. Anderson did not commit an error at the Major League level until August 18, 2006 against the Minnesota Twins, ending his streak of 110 errorless games. On May 20, 2006, Anderson was ejected from an interleague game against 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 ...

for fighting with Cubs first baseman

John Mabry John Steven Mabry (born October 17, 1970) is an American former professional baseball player, broadcaster, and coach. He is a coach for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He had 898 career hits in 3,409 at-bats (for a battin ...

. He was fined and served a five-game suspension. Anderson lost his starting job to

Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (; born June 4, 1974) is an American former professional baseball player and the former head coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball team. Erstad spent most of his playing career with the Los Angeles Angels o ...

in 2007, and after only 17 at-bats was sent down to the White Sox' AAA affiliate, the

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

. At Charlotte, Anderson hit for a .255 average before his season ended with an injury, a disappointment in contrast to his 2005 season in which he hit .294. He eventually earned a spot back on the major-league roster in 2008 as a backup outfielder after a superb spring training changed the organization's negative perceptions of his effort. Anderson again made the major-league roster in 2009 as a backup outfielder, with

DeWayne Wise Larry DeWayne Wise (born February 24, 1978) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He graduated from Chapin High School in 1997 and was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth round (158th overall) of the 1997 Major League Ba ...

starting in center field. However, Anderson retrieved the starting job after Wise was injured in April.

Boston Red Sox

On July 28, 2009, Anderson was traded to the

for Mark Kotsay and cash considerations. He was non-tendered after the season.

Transition to pitching

Kansas City Royals

On December 22, 2009, Anderson signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the

. After spring training, Anderson informed the Royals that he wanted to become a pitcher. The Royals allowed Anderson to become a pitcher in the low minors. Anderson began the 2010 season with the Rookie-level Arizona Royals and was later promoted to the

Burlington Bees The Burlington Bees are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Burlington, Iowa, and have played their home games at Community Field since 1947. Founded in 1889, the Bees played in Minor League Basebal ...

, followed by the

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...

New York Yankees

Anderson signed a minor league contract with an invitation to 2011 spring training with the

. He started off the season with the Double-A

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

, recording one win, three holds, and a 1.17

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in seven appearances. He was placed on the disabled list on May 4, and was later released by the Yankees on May 27.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On February 26, 2012, Anderson signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers with an invitation to spring training. On March 31, he was released.

Colorado Rockies

On April 7, 2012, Anderson signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. He was released eight days later.

Return to Chicago White Sox

On January 14, 2015, Anderson attempted a comeback as a position player and signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. He was released on April 2.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Brian 1982 births Living people Arizona League Royals players Arizona Wildcats baseball players Baseball players from Tucson, Arizona Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Bourne Braves players Burlington Bees players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Cotuit Kettleers players Great Falls White Sox players Leones de Ponce players Major League Baseball center fielders Mesa Solar Sox players Omaha Royals players Pawtucket Red Sox players Somerset Patriots players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Trenton Thunder players Winston-Salem Warthogs players