Jeffrey Matthew Duncan (born December 9, 1978) is an American baseball coach and former

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), ...

outfielder for the New York Mets. He is the head baseball coach at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

. Duncan played college baseball at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in 1998 before transferring to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

from 1999 to 2000 to play for coach Pat Murphy. After a standout college career, he would be drafted in the 7th round in 2000 by the New York Mets. He then played in the Major Leagues for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in and . Duncan also played in the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue-Jays organizations. He hit and threw left-handed.

Amateur career

Duncan graduated from

Lemont High School Lemont High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Lemont, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Lemont Township High School District 210, which serves the Village of ...

where he played baseball.Jeff Duncan
at

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. He was chosen by 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 ...

in the 41st round of the Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to attend

instead.Jeff Duncan profile
at Arizona State University Athletics web site. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. A year later, he transferred to

. In 1999, 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, and was named a league all-star.

Professional career

He was drafted by the Mets in the 7th round of the draft, and agreed to a contract. His professional career started slowly with a batting average of .242 for the short-season A-level Pittsfield Mets in 2000 and only .217 with the A-level

Capital City Bombers Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

in . He had few RBI in the two seasons, but registered 61

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. Duncan's hitting broke through in with an average close to .400 for two A-level teams leading all Mets Minor Leaguers.Jeff Duncan – 2002 Highlights
at

. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. In 2003, Duncan hit well at Double-A

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. Duncan was called up to the majors and made his debut on May 20, 2003. After three games and one start, Duncan was back in Binghamton until mid-July.Jeff Duncan – 2003 Highlights
at

. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. When he returned to the majors, he collected 12

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 in ...

s in 11 games and his average stood at .400. This turned out to be the lone good hitting streak of his career. In August 2003, he hit .106 with no RBI and spent a short time with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. His .200 average in September was punctuated by the only three-hit game of his career. Duncan was back in the majors with the Mets in 2004, but after only one hit in 15

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 through May 5, Duncan was back in the minors. He hit under .260 at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels of the Mets' system and was not brought back to the majors. In , he hit only .245 with the Double-A Binghamton Mets and was released on August 11. Duncan was soon signed as a

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 ...

by the San Diego Padres. Although he hit .300 for Double-A Mobile, San Diego did not re-sign him after the season. In , Duncan hit .299 with 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 ...

' Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. He signed a minor league contract 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 ...

on November 10, 2006, but after a strong and impressive spring training he was sent down to AAA Syracuse. After an injury plagued season, he was released on July 3, . After his release, he signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League, but asked for his release on May 21, ; he immediately retired.

Coaching career

In September 2009, Duncan left his volunteer position with the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

for a full-time assistant coaching position with the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

, which he held through the end of the 2013 season."Jeff Duncan leaves volunteer position for full-time assistant spot"
. September 14, 2009, ''auburntigers.cstv.com''. Retrieved on September 5, 2011. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, Duncan was hired as the head coach at

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Duncan's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Jeff 1978 births Living people Baseball coaches from Illinois Auburn Tigers baseball coaches Purdue Boilermakers baseball coaches Kent State Golden Flashes baseball coaches New York Mets players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Chicago Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Iowa State Cyclones baseball players Sportspeople from Harvey, Illinois Pittsfield Mets players Capital City Bombers players St. Lucie Mets players Norfolk Tides players Mobile BayBears players Las Vegas 51s players Binghamton Mets players Syracuse Chiefs players Somerset Patriots players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Waterloo Bucks players