Craig Chad-Leo Stansberry (born March 8, 1982) is an American former professional
infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.
Standard arrangement of positions
In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
.
Stansberry was the first player in Major League Baseball history to have been born in Saudi Arabia. (In 2013,
Alex Wilson became the second).
Career
Although he was born in Saudi Arabia, Stansberry only lived there for about a month. His father spent three years there working for a building materials company.
Stansberry attended
Plano High School in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and went on to play one year at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
in which he
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
.309 with six
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 and 56
RBI in 70 games. He also helped the
Owls
Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vi ...
win the
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
championship in his only year at Rice. He was then 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 5th round (135th overall) in the
Major League Baseball draft
The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...
, and then signed by scout Tom Barnard. After four seasons in the Pirates organization, he was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres on December 20, 2006.
Stansberry began the season for the
Portland Beavers
The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL.
Franchise history
Many baseball teams ...
, the Padres Triple-A team. He was called up on August 25, 2007, when everyday second baseman
Marcus Giles
Marcus William Giles (born May 18, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was a second baseman and batted right-handed. His older brother, Brian Giles, was an outfielder who also played in the Major Leagues.
Career
Giles was selected ...
went on the
disabled list
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL).
General guidelines
...
. He was batting .273 with 14 home runs and ten
steals in 124 games for the Beavers at the time of his call-up. Stansberry made his major league debut on that same day as a
pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...
. He
singled in his first major league
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 ...
off
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 ...
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...
J. C. Romero
Juan Carlos Romero (born June 4, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Philli ...
.
In 2008, Stansberry played in the first Major League baseball game held in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
when 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 ...
played the San Diego Padres in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China.
In October 2009, Stansberry was granted free agency, but re-signed with the Padres, spending the 2010 season back with the Beavers. On September 1, 2010, Stansberry broke the record for most games played with the Portland Beavers. He also set club records for most hits, doubles, and walks
Portland 11, Reno 3: Craig Stansberry sets club record for career hits in the Beavers victory
/ref> He ended the 2010 season with 531 games played with Portland.
See also
*
Notes
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stansberry, Craig
1982 births
Living people
Altoona Curve players
American expatriates in Saudi Arabia
Grand Canyon Rafters players
Hickory Crawdads players
Indianapolis Indians players
Las Vegas 51s players
Lynchburg Hillcats players
Major League Baseball players from Saudi Arabia
Major League Baseball second basemen
NCTC Lions baseball players
New Hampshire Fisher Cats players
Sportspeople from Dammam
Portland Beavers players
Rice Owls baseball players
San Diego Padres players
Williamsport Crosscutters players