Daniel Chris Putnam (born September 17, 1982) is an American former professional baseball

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 c ...

. 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) for the Oakland Athletics.

Career

Amateur

As a student at

Rancho Bernardo High School Rancho Bernardo High School, or RBHS, is a public high school in the Poway Unified School District of San Diego County, California, United States. Rancho Bernardo High School was opened in 1991 as the district's third high school. Enrollment Fo ...

in 2001, he was named the ''

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High School Player of the Year. He attended Stanford University, and in 2002 he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Hyannis Mets The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League where he was named a league all-star. He was selected by the A's in the first round of the 2004 MLB Draft.

Oakland Athletics

He played parts of three seasons in the minors for the Athletics. In 2004 he played for the Low-A

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

and the Single-A

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play thei ...

. In 2005 he played for High-A Stockton Ports and in 2006 he played for Stockton and the Double-A

Midland RockHounds The Midland RockHounds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, w ...

. He was called up to the majors in April . He made his major league debut on April 23, 2007 against the

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and got his first major league hit the same day. Putnam returned to the minors in May 2007 when

Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...

returned from an injury. May 10, 2007 would be his final major league appearance. He was designated for assignment on January 11, 2008, and started the year playing for their Triple-A affiliate, the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

and would end up playing 89 games for Sacramento during the season. In 2009, Putnam played for Sacramento and Midland for the Athletics organization.

San Diego Padres

On July 8, 2009, Putnam was traded to 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 penn ...

as the player to be named later in the Chad Reineke trade that had occurred on April 2. He would finish the 2009 season with the Padres Triple-A affiliate, 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 ...

. Putnam was released by the Padres organization on March 25, 2010.

Bridgeport Bluefish

Following his release from the Padres, Putnam signed with the

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 independent Atlantic League for the 2010 season. He played in 108 games for Bridgeport, hitting .272/.367/.448 to go along with 11 homers and 56 runs batted in. In 2011 for the Bluefish, Putnam slashed .270/.331/.420 over 105 games. He became a free agent after the season.

References

External links

1982 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Athletics players Baseball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Bridgeport Bluefish players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Kane County Cougars players Major League Baseball outfielders Midland RockHounds players Oakland Athletics players Baseball players from St. Clair County, Illinois Portland Beavers players Sacramento River Cats players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Stockton Ports players United States national baseball team players Vancouver Canadians players Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in baseball Rancho Bernardo High School alumni Águilas de Mexicali players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico {{US-baseball-outfielder-1980s-stub