Vance Philip Albitz (born January 31, 1988) is an American 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 ...

player who was an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

for five seasons. He played

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 ...

for the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

Amateur career

High school

Albitz played baseball all four years at South High School in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

. He was a two-time all-state selection for baseball and a three-year letterman on the basketball team. Albitz was voted South High School's "Athlete of the Year" in 2005 and 2006.

College

At the

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, Albitz was a walk-on player for coach Dan O'Brien's

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

baseball team in the fall of 2006; he later earned an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

. A standout in the

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its current members are public universities, and upon UC ...

(CCAA), he was a first-team All-CCAA selection in 2007 and 2008, a first-team All-American in 2009 and 2010, a three-time Gold Glove winner at shortstop (2008-2010), and the first back-to-back two-time "National Defensive Player of the Year" in Triton baseball history. Albitz was a member of the 2009 Tritons squad that finished third in the Division II College World Series and the 2010 team that finished second.

Professional career

St. Louis Cardinals

Albitz's contract was sold by the

Lincoln Saltdogs The Lincoln Saltdogs are a professional baseball team based in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the United States. The Saltdogs are in the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. Since the 2001 sea ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

to the

on August 24, 2011. Albitz finished the final 13 games of the season in Batavia, NY for the

Batavia Muckdogs The Batavia Muckdogs are a collegiate summer baseball team in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL). They are located in Batavia, a city in Genesee County, New York, United States. Their home field is Dwyer Stadium in the city of Ba ...

where he hit .283 and committed just one error at shortstop. In 2012, Albitz began the year with the

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Roge ...

of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

and progressed his way up to the AAA

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

, finishing the year as a member of the 2012 Texas League Champion

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They compete as a member of the Texas League's North Division. The Cardinals began play in 2005. The team is owned by the 11-time Major League Baseball ...

. In 2013, Albitz began and ended the year in AAA with the Memphis Redbirds. In 2014, Albitz was released by the Cardinals at the conclusion of Spring Training.

Los Angeles Angels

Albitz signed a free agent contract with the Angels in 2014. In 206 at-bats, Albitz hit .325 for the AAA

Salt Lake City Bees The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in Salt Lake City, Utah between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

and finished with a .990 fielding percentage. Before the start of the 2015 season, Albitz was released by the Angels.

Personal life

Albitz was born in

to parents Phil and Velma, and brother Clete. Albitz made national news in 2012 when his charity, Gloves 4 Troops, was publicized by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

sports writer

Rick Reilly Richard Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958) is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'', Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008, where he was a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote t ...

. His foundation was given publicity on a number of different television programs, most notably Hot Stove on MLB Network and GameChangersArchived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
on CBS. Since 2012, Albitz has sent over 3,124 baseball gloves to American soldiers stationed in more than 20 countries around the world.

References

External links

Milb.comBaseball ReferenceBaseball CubeUCSD Triton BioGloves 4 Troops
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albitz, Vance 1988 births Living people Baseball players from Torrance, California Batavia Muckdogs players Palm Beach Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Baseball infielders UC San Diego Tritons baseball players