Craig Browning Tatum (born March 18, 1983) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. 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), ...

for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

from 2009 through 2011.

Early years

Tatum attended Hattiesburg High School where he played baseball as a

and

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 ...

. He was named the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year after hitting a team-best .435 with 51 hits and 54 Runs Batted In. He had a 7-3 pitching record with a save and a 3.94 earned run average and 80 strikeouts

College career

Tatum attended

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, where he played for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team representing Mississippi State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program is a member of the West Division of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

team. In 2002 Tatum was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

before be the team's starting catcher. In 2004, Tatum hit .325 with 13

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 a team-leading 60 RBI, en route to second-team All- All-SEC honors as a sophomore. He majored in

Banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

MLB career

Cincinnati Reds

Tatum was drafted by the

in the third round (78th overall) of the 2004 MLB Draft. Tatum was called up from the minors from Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

on July 19, 2009 after starting catcher

Ramón Hernández Ramón José Hernández Marin (; born May 20, 1976) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Oakland Athletics (1999–2003), San Diego Padres (2004–2005), Baltimore Orioles (2006 ...

had a knee injury. On July 21, 2009 he made his Major League debut against

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 ...

, he went 0-2 and was the last player retired in the game. On July 25, Hanigan was scratched from his scheduled start to a stiff neck which allowed Tatum took his first Major League start 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 ...

. On July 28 against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, Tatum notched his first Major League hit and first career RBI with a single that scored

Laynce Nix Laynce Michael Nix (born October 30, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. Nix played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillie ...

On August 29, 2009, Tatum hit his first career home run, a line drive off knuckleballer

Charlie Haeger Charles Wallis Haeger (September 19, 1983October 3, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. He was one of the few knuckleball pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB) during his career. He played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, San ...

Baltimore Orioles

On November 20, 2009, Tatum was claimed off waivers by the

. Making the team out of spring training, he backed up

Matt Wieters Matthew Richard Wieters (; born May 21, 1986) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, and St. Louis Cardinals. Wieters played college basebal ...

for the 2010 season. In 2011 Tatum did not make the team out of spring training but was called up after catcher

Jake Fox Jacob Quirin Fox (born July 20, 1982) is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles, and in the KBO League for the Hanwha Eagles. ...

was designated for assignment on June 1. He has backed up Wieters the rest of the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Tatum was claimed off waivers by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

on October 28, 2011. After being designated for assignment by the Astros, he was claimed off waivers by 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 f ...

on January 23, 2012.

New York Yankees

On March 28, 2012, Tatum was claimed off waivers by 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 ...

Retirement

On February 13, 2013, after the Marlins rescinded Tatum's minor-league deal, Tatum announced his retirement from

Personal life

He is married to Daniele Rocconi.

References

External links

Mississippi State University Buldogs Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatum, Craig 1983 births Living people Baseball players from Mississippi Major League Baseball catchers Billings Mustangs players Dayton Dragons players Sarasota Reds players Chattanooga Lookouts players Louisville Bats players Norfolk Tides players Cincinnati Reds players Baltimore Orioles players Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Sportspeople from Hattiesburg, Mississippi Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players