Wilburn Edward "Eddy" Furniss III (born September 18, 1975) is an American retired

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. A standout

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

player for

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU), Furniss has been inducted into the

College Baseball Hall of Fame The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collecti ...

, the

LSU Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes members of the LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers athletics program that have made a lasting impact on Louisiana State University (LSU). To be eligible for the Hall of Fame in the Athlete ca ...

, and the

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is located in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum – Natchitoches in a new facility in the downtown historic district in Natchitoches, Louisiana. After years of planning and con ...

. He is the 10th athlete, and 2nd baseball player, in LSU history to have his number retired. With the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

, Furniss was a two-time

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 ...

champion and a two-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. He won the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the age ...

as college baseball's best player in 1998, and set

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) records in numerous offensive categories, including

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

runs batted in 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 ...

(RBIs). He was among the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's all-time leaders in home runs and RBIs at the time he graduated from college. 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 1998, Furniss played in their minor league system through 2000. He played for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

organization in 2001 and the Texas Rangers organization in 2002. Unable to advance beyond

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

, Furniss decided to retire from baseball and attend medical school. He graduated from the

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located in the T ...

and completed his

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

John Peter Smith Hospital John Peter Smith Hospital (also known as JPS Hospital) is a Level 1 Trauma Center, 573-bed county hospital located in Fort Worth, Texas that provides inpatient, outpatient and behavioral healthcare. About John Peter Smith Hospital is part of the ...

. He practices

family medicine Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...

in his native

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchito ...

Baseball career

Amateur career

Furniss attended

Nacogdoches High School Nacogdoches High School is located in north east Nacogdoches, Texas. Nacogdoches High School is the high school of the Nacogdoches Independent School District. It serves all of the city of Nacogdoches and most of Nacogdoches County. History Pro ...

, where he played for the school's baseball team. In his senior season, Furniss had a .430

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 ...

, and was named to the All-State team. He had no intention of playing

, expecting to study medicine in college. Following the persistence of college coaches who tried to recruit him, Furniss agreed to continue his baseball career in college. After graduating from high school in 1994, Furniss enrolled at

(LSU), where he played college baseball for the

LSU Tigers baseball The LSU Tigers baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. It ranks seventh overall with 18 College World Series appeara ...

team in the

(SEC) of the

's (NCAA) Division I. Furniss batted .326 as a freshman with the LSU Tigers in 1995, and was named to the All-Tournament Team in the 1995 SEC baseball tournament. As a sophomore, Furniss was named the SEC Player of the Year, as he batted .374 and hit 26

s with 103 RBIs, the most in the nation. He was also named a first-team All American as a

, as the Tigers won the

1996 College World Series The 1996 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1996 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series ...

(CWS). In 1996, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, where he won the league's annual

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

home run hitting contest. As a junior, Furniss batted .378 with 17 home runs and 77 RBIs. The Tigers repeated, winning the 1997 CWS. The SEC presented Furniss with their Sportsmanship Award after the season. Furniss sought to improve his physical shape for the 1998 season, and after losing weight, Furniss batted .403 average in 1998 with 27 doubles, three triples, 28 home runs, 85 runs scored, and 76 RBIs. He also set a career-high with 72 walks and a career-low in

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s with 40. He earned first-team All-America and All-SEC honors, and won the

as the top collegiate baseball player. He was also a semifinalist for the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

, though the award was won by

Pat Burrell Patrick Brian Burrell (born October 10, 1976), nicknamed "Pat the Bat", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, and San Francisco Giants. Bur ...

. Furniss had a .371 batting average in his four years at LSU, and set SEC career records for hits (352), doubles (87), home runs (80), runs batted in (309), and total bases (689). At the end of his career, he was among the NCAA's all-time leaders in various offensive categories, ranking third in total bases, fourth in home runs and doubles, and fifth in RBIs.

Professional career

Selected in the 14th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft by 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 ...

, Furniss opted to return to LSU for his senior season, rather than sign for the

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

typically given to a player selected in that round. After his senior season, Furniss was drafted by the

in the fourth round of the

1998 MLB Draft The 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1998. A total of 1445 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

. Furniss made his professional debut with the

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previous ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. After a strong showing with Augusta, batting 40-for-86 (.465) with seven doubles, nine home runs, 31 RBIs and 32

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

in 24 games, the Pirates promoted Furniss to the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games a ...

of the

Southern League in mid-July, bypassing the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinna ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. Furniss struggled in Carolina, and the Pirates demoted Furniss to Lynchburg on August 4. He batted .193 in 36 games with Lynchburg to close the season. The Pirates assigned Furniss to Lynchburg in 1999, where he batted .261 with 23 home runs and 87 RBIs, and was honored as the Carolina League's All-Star first baseman. He also set a Hillcats franchise record for walks with 94. The Pirates sent Furniss to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

after the 1999 regular season. He played for the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...

of the Class AA Eastern League, the Pirates' new Class AA affiliate, in 2000, where he batted .239 in 121 games played. Signed as a free agent by the

organization after the season, Furniss started the 2001 season with the

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, whic ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, but was demoted to the

Visalia Oaks Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

in April. The Athletics promoted him back to Midland later in the season. Joining the Texas Rangers organization for the 2002 season, he played for the

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

, also in the Texas League, where he played in 26 games and batted .143.

Honors

In honor of his LSU career, Furniss has been inducted into three

halls of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

; the

in 2007, the

in 2010, and the

in 2012. During his 2012 induction speech, Furniss quoted the character based on

Moonlight Graham Archibald Wright "Moonlight" Graham (November 12, 1876 – August 25, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and medical doctor who appeared as a right fielder in a single major league game for the New York Giants on June 29, 190 ...

from ''

Field of Dreams ''Field of Dreams'' is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella's 1982 novel '' Shoeless Joe''. The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a ...

''. Graham played in one MLB game before he retired to practice medicine. On April 22, 2016 the LSU baseball team retired Furniss' No. 36 jersey.

Medical career

Furniss graduated LSU with an

academic major An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

on a

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

track, and

grade point average Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

s above 3.5 in each of his last three years. He took his

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

courses during the fall semester, so they did not distract from the baseball season in the spring semester. After the 2002 season, Furniss retired from baseball, as he promised himself he would if he found himself unable to advance beyond Class AA. He enrolled in medical school at

, and completed his

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. Furniss practices in the Nacogdoches Medical Center, the same building where his father practices.

Personal life

Furniss was raised in

, on a ranch. His father, a

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who practices

, built Eddy a

batting cage A batting cage (or tunnel) is an enclosed area for baseball or softball players to practice the skill of batting. The optimal material for batting cages is netting, and they are typically rectangular in shape. Chain-link fence is not required but ...

so that he could take 200 to 300 practice swings a day as a child. Furniss married his high school girlfriend, Crystal, with whom he has two sons and a daughter.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furniss, Eddy 1975 births Living people People from Nacogdoches, Texas Baseball players from Texas Baseball first basemen LSU Tigers baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Lynchburg Hillcats players Augusta GreenJackets players Carolina Mudcats players Altoona Curve players Visalia Oaks players Midland RockHounds players Tulsa Drillers players National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston alumni American primary care physicians All-American college baseball players

Baseball career

Amateur career

Professional career

Honors

Medical career

Personal life

See also

References

External links