Chad Austin Tracy (born May 22, 1980) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He 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), ...

(MLB) from 2004 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2013 for 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 ...

, Chicago Cubs,

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

, and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. He also played for the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB).

College career and draft

Tracy compiled a .339

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

during his career at East Carolina University. In 2000, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. He was selected by the

in the seventh round of the 2001 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career

Minor league career

He played third base in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, for the

El Paso Diablos "El Paso Diablos" refers to two different professional baseball teams based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The most recent Diablos were a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, wh ...

. In four minor league seasons, Tracy hit .335 with 24

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 85 doubles, and 206

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 337 games. In , he was selected to participate in the Futures Game during the All-Star break as the starting third baseman on the U.S. squad.

Arizona Diamondbacks

2004–08

Tracy made his major league debut with Arizona in . He finished his rookie season with a .285 average, eight home runs, 53 RBIs, and a .343 on-base percentage in 143 games. He led NL third basemen with 25 errors, and he had a major-league-low .935 fielding percentage at third. In , Tracy had a breakout season, as he batted .308 (7th-best in the league) with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs. He also had a slugging percentage of .533, 10th-best in the NL. Tracy's numbers dipped in the season. He batted .281 with 20 homers and 80 RBIs. His slugging percentage went down over 100 points from his 2005 total, going from .553 to .451. His 129 strikeouts went up as they nearly doubled his 2005 total. He also tied

Edwin Encarnación Edwin Elpidio Encarnación (born January 7, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball designated hitter, third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland ...

for the major league lead in errors by a third baseman, with 25, as he again had a .935 fielding percentage at third base. His numbers dipped again in 2007, as he batted .264—the lowest batting average of his major league career. He batted .222 with 2 out and runners in

scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batte ...

. In 2008, he had his lowest on-base percentage (.308) and slugging percentage (.414) of his major league career, as he batted .267. He again batted .222 with 2 out and runners in scoring position.

2009

On May 6, 2009, Tracy (who was batting .224) was taken out of the starting lineup, replaced by

Josh Whitesell Joshua S. Whitesell (born April 14, 1982) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and ...

, who was called up to the Diamondbacks after hitting .356 for the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

with a .477 on-base percentage (2nd in the Pacific Coast League) and a .552 slugging percentage. Manager

Bob Melvin Robert Paul Melvin (born October 28, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player and coach, who is the manager of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has been named Manager of the Year three times. Selected in t ...

said Whitesell would get a chance to play every day, and that Tracy "is going to pinch hit, (and) he's going to fill in at third and first for a while." That did not last long, however, as on May 19, not even two weeks later, Melvin had been fired as manager and the team optioned Whitesell back to Reno. A right-oblique strain that Tracy suffered May 29 led to him being placed on the 15-day disabled list. Tracy came off the disabled list after missing 27 games.

Tony Clark Anthony Christopher Clark (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional baseball player and executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1995 to 2009 and is the sixth executive director of the Major League Baseball P ...

was released in mid-July, and Whitesell was called back up for the third time in the season to replace him on July 16. Tracy said:

Obviously, I want the playing time, I want to be out there every day. Right now, there are a lot of question marks, especially for me, and some of the other guys that are on their last year of their contract or have some value to be traded, so I think we're probably at that point now where anything can happen. I wouldn't be surprised by anything.

Manager A.J. Hinch spoke with Tracy, who was batting a career-low .222 with a .288 on-base percentage at the time, and Whitesell on July 17. He told them that Whitesell would get the bulk of the action at first base, starting four or five times a week "for the time being". After the 2009 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks did not pick up Tracy's 2010 option, which permitted Tracy to file for free agency.

Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Florida Marlins

2010

On January 26, 2010, Tracy signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs with an invite to spring training. The deal was announced on January 27, 2010. On March 29, the Cubs announced that Tracy had made the major league Cubs' 25 man roster. On May 7, Tracy was sent down to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs to make room for Starlin Castro. Tracy was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Cubs. Tracy was released by the Cubs on July 1, 2010. Tracy signed with the

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

on July 9, 2010, and he was assigned to the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the ...

but eventually opted out of his contract, making him a free agent. Tracy signed with the

on August 5, 2010.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

2011

Tracy signed with the

of Japan to play the 2011 season.

Washington Nationals

2012–2013

Chad Tracy signed a minor league deal with the

in the spring of 2012. He showed enough improvement at the plate during spring training to make the club's opening day roster. He was made a member of the Nationals' bench, where he was a productive left-handed bat. In two seasons, he hit .269 in 2012 but declined to just .202 in 2013, his final season for the Nationals.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and retirement

2014

Tracy signed a minor league deal with the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

on January 29, 2014. He was released on March 23. On April 26, Tracy announced his retirement from baseball.

Personal life

In 2007, Tracy married Katie Martin.
/ref> They have four daughters: Ella, Brynn, Leah, and Ruthie. He now coaches a softball team called, Team NC Baylog/Tracy.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Chad 1980 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Chicago Cubs players Florida Marlins players Washington Nationals players Baseball players from Charlotte, North Carolina East Carolina Pirates baseball players Major League Baseball third basemen South Bend Silver Hawks players Yakima Bears players El Paso Diablos players Tucson Sidewinders players Reno Aces players Iowa Cubs players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Potomac Nationals players Syracuse Chiefs players Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games American expatriate baseball players in Japan Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Orleans Firebirds players Pan American Games competitors for the United States