Christopher Joseph Latham (born May 26, 1973) is an American former professional

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 is a

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

who is 6'0" tall, weighs 195 pounds, and throws right-handed.

Career

Latham played baseball at

Basic High School Basic Academy of International Studies also known as Basic Academy and Basic High School, is a public high school with an embedded magnet high school that is part of the Clark County School District. It was the first high school in Henderson, Ne ...

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

, and in 1991 the

Los Angeles 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 ...

selected him in the June amateur draft, taking him with the 300th overall pick as part of the draft's 11th round. Latham enjoyed a breakout season with the

Yakima Bears The Yakima Bears were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Yakima, Washington. The Bears competed at the Class A Short Season level as members of the Northwest League from 1990 to 2012. Following the 2012 season, ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

in 1994, setting a club record with a .340

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 ...

. Latham also made the Northwest League's All-Star team that season, establishing himself as a prospect. The

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club ...

went on

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

late in 1994, and as a result major league organizations attempted to field teams of

replacement players In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker. Instances of replacement players Nati ...

in the

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

before the 1995 season. Latham was one of the Dodgers' replacement players that spring, but the two sides reached a deal before any regular-season replacement games were played. On October 30, 1995, Latham was chosen as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in a deal that had been concluded on July 31. Los Angeles received pitchers

Kevin Tapani Kevin Ray Tapani (born February 18, 1964) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs from 1989 to 2001. Early life Tapani was raised in E ...

and

Mark Guthrie Mark Andrew Guthrie (born September 22, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for several teams between 1989 and 2003 and was a member of the 1991 World Series Champion Minnesota Twins. Career After graduating from ...

from the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, with Latham,

Ron Coomer Ronald Bryan Coomer (born November 18, 1966), nicknamed "Coom Dawg", is a former first baseman and third baseman in Major League Baseball and the current color analyst and play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs radio on WSCR 670 AM. Coomer ...

Greg Hansell Gregory Michael Hansell (born March 12, 1971) is a former baseball pitcher. Career Hansell played for four different major league ballclubs during his career: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1995), Minnesota Twins (1996), Milwaukee Brewers (1997), and P ...

and José Parra going the other way. Latham made his major league debut with the Twins on April 12, 1997, appearing as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

for

Todd Walker Todd Arthur Walker (born May 25, 1973) is a former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1996 to 2007. Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Walker played college baseball at Louis ...

in an 11-6 win over 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 ...

. He spent parts of the next three seasons with the Twins, but struggled to establish himself in the major leagues, and was traded to the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

for

Scott Randall Scott Phillip Randall (born October 29, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Randall's Major League Baseball (MLB) career began in June 1995 when he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 11th round of the Major League Ba ...

on December 7, 1999. Latham spent all of the 2000 season at the AAA level, then signed with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

organization as a minor league

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He enjoyed his most successful major league season with the Blue Jays in 2001, batting .274 with a .369

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and a .425

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

in 73

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. After another season in AAA, he spent a brief time with the

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 ...

in 2003, then signed with Japan's

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

after being

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 ...

. Latham spent the 2005 season with the independent

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

of the Atlantic League. Most recently, he represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the 2005

World Cup of Baseball The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament where national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two acti ...

, as one of four outfielders on America's team.http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050829worldcup.html

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Chris 1973 births Living people African-American baseball players Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball players from Idaho Bridgeport Bluefish players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Guerreros de Oaxaca players Gulf Coast Dodgers players Great Falls Dodgers players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball replacement players Mexican League baseball center fielders Minnesota Twins players New York Yankees players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Norfolk Tides players Salt Lake Buzz players San Antonio Missions players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players Winnipeg Goldeyes players Vero Beach Dodgers players Yakima Bears players Yomiuri Giants players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople