Reginald Damascus Abercrombie (born July 15, 1980) is an American former

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 ...

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 cat ...

. 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 Florida Marlins and

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 ...

Professional career

Abercrombie graduated from Columbus High School. He was selected by 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 ...

in the 23rd round of the

1999 Major League Baseball draft The 1999 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, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

, but chose to attend

Florida Gateway College Florida Gateway College (FGC), formerly Lake City Community College, is a public college in Lake City, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of the institutions in the system designated a "state college", allowing it to offer ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

during the 1999–2000 school year and signed on May 24, 2000. Abercrombie was later dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline in 2004 and claimed off waivers by the Florida Marlins on April 6, 2005. After a strong

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

one year later in 2006, where he batted .358 with a .394

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and a .627

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

, the Florida Marlins called him up to the big club. His ascent to the majors was somewhat surprising, considering he had only had brief stints above Single-A ball. Though once viewed as a marginal prospect, the Marlins had high hopes for him. In 2006, he joined a rookie cast that included Hanley Ramírez, Dan Uggla,

Jeremy Hermida Jeremy Ryan Hermida (born January 30, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, and i ...

, Josh Johnson,

Josh Willingham Joshua David Willingham (born February 17, 1979) is a former American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City ...

, Eric Reed,

Mike Jacobs Mike Jacobs may refer to: *Mike Jacobs (first baseman) (born 1980), American baseball player; first North American in professional sports to be tested positive for HGH *Mike Jacobs (shortstop) (1877–1949), played for the Chicago Cubs *Mike Jacobs ...

, and Scott Olsen, a group that overperformed considering the meager expectations which were placed on them due to the frugal nature of Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. Abercrombie had some high points, but overall he did not stick as a starter for the Marlins in 2006 and ended up with only 281 plate appearances, a batting average of .212, an on-base percentage of .271, and a slugging percentage of .333, all well below the league averages. Though he never materialized into a consistent option for the Marlins, on April 19, 2006, while playing against 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 ...

at the Great American Ball Park, Abercrombie, facing pitcher

Mike Gosling Michael Frederick Gosling (born September 23, 1980) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians from 2004 to 2009. Amateur career Gosling wa ...

, hit a

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 ...

486 feet, according to Hit Tracker Online's Standard Distance (considered "the best way of comparing home runs hit under a variety of different conditions" by the website). This home run was the furthest recorded distance of any home run since Hit Tracker had kept track of HR distances, until on September 27, 2008,

Adam Dunn Adam Troy Dunn (born November 9, 1979), nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nation ...

of the Arizona Diamondbacks hit a home run of Standard Distance 501 feet. In the 2007 season, Abercrombie saw less time in the majors and again slumped at the plate, with a .197 batting average, .238 on-base percentage, and .316 slugging percentage in 80 plate appearances. He spent most of the season with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes where he hit very well, with a .323 batting average, .361 on-base percentage, and .584 slugging percentage in 379 plate appearances.

Houston Astros

On October 11, 2007, the

claimed him off waivers from the Marlins. He was sent outright to the minors on March 28, 2008. On June 7, his contract was purchased and he was added to the active roster. He was designated for assignment almost one month later on July 6. After being sent outright to the minors, he was recalled by the Astros again on August 9. Although he only got 60 plate appearances in the major leagues, he had fairly good statistics in his time there, finishing the season with a .309 batting average and a .509 slugging percentage. On January 5, , he re-signed with the Houston Astros. He spent the entire 2009 campaign with Houston's AAA Round Rock club, slashing .271/.312/.412 with 11 HR, and was granted free agency on November 9, 2009.

Independent ball

Abercrombie joined the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball in 2010, signing a contract with the

Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...

. He was a popular player in Sioux Falls due to his help in leading the Pheasants to the 2010 American Association Championship Series, and he made the American Association All-Star Game. In total he recorded 22 home runs with 90 RBI and a .328 average. In 2011, Abercrombie posted a .304 average with 17 home runs and 66 RBI. Abercrombie spent much of the 2012 and 2013 seasons splitting time between Sioux Falls and the Mexican League. In 2012, he hit a combined .293 with 17 HR and 67 RBI for the Pheasants and Tigres de Quintana Roo. 2013 saw Abercrombie record a statline of .292/18/73 playing for Pericos de Puebla,

Olmecas de Tabasco The Olmecas de Tabasco (English: Tabasco Olmecs) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. Their home ballpark is the Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero. The Olmecas won their only Mexican Leag ...

, and the renamed Sioux Falls Canaries. Abercrombie joined the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of the Northern ...

for the 2014 season and hit .284 in 398 at bats with 15 home runs and 74 RBI. On February 9, 2015, he was traded by the Goldeyes to the Sussex County Miners of the

Canadian-American Association The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...

in exchange for cash and a player to be named later. He made three stops overall in 2015, playing with Sussex County, the

of the American Association and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League. In addition to his minor league and major league experience, Abercrombie has played for teams in the Arizona Fall League, the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

, the

Puerto Rican Winter League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

, and the Dominican Winter League. On December 7, 2015, it was announced that Abercrombie would be back with the Goldeyes for the 2016 season. Abercrombie then went on to help the Goldeyes win each of the next two league championships. He retired following the 2019 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abercrombie, Reggie 1980 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players African-American baseball players Albuquerque Isotopes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Columbus, Georgia Carolina Mudcats players Florida Marlins players Great Falls Dodgers players Grand Canyon Rafters players Houston Astros players Jacksonville Suns players Jupiter Hammerheads players Lake City Timberwolves baseball players Lancaster JetHawks players Leones de Ponce players Major League Baseball center fielders Mayos de Navojoa players Mexican League baseball center fielders Olmecas de Tabasco players Pericos de Puebla players Round Rock Express players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sioux Falls Canaries players Sioux Falls Pheasants players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Sussex County Miners players Tigres de Quintana Roo players Tigres del Licey players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Vero Beach Dodgers players Wilmington Waves players Winnipeg Goldeyes players Yaquis de Obregón players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people