Xavier Clifford Nady VI (; born November 14, 1978) 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Nady 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

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 ...

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 ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

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 ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

, and 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 penna ...

. 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 hav ...

originally drafted Nady in the fourth round of the

1997 Major League Baseball draft The 1997 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, 1997. A total of 1607 players were drafted over the course of 92 rounds. First round selections ...

(134th overall) after he was named Northern California Player of the Year in his senior year of high school (but he did not sign professionally at that time). Nady attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he set the all-time

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

record for career

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, ...

(.729) for the

California Golden Bears baseball The California Golden Bears baseball team represents the University of California, Berkeley in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other California athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Pac-12 Conference. The Bears ...

team.

Professional career

San Diego Padres

Nady was drafted in the second round of the

2000 Major League Baseball draft First round selections Compensation picks Background The Florida Marlins made Adrián González of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California the first overall selection in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft. González, who was rated as ...

by the

(49th overall). Nady signed a major league contract and became the 18th player to go directly to the major leagues without making his professional debut in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

since . Nady only appeared in one major league game before being sent to the minor leagues. He was named Padres Minor League Player of the Year in , also collecting the California League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards that season. Nady underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

after the 2001 season and had limited playing time in . In , he again returned to the major league level for part of the season, but spent most of his time in the minor leagues. In late June , Nady became the first Padre since

Greg Vaughn Gregory Lamont Vaughn (born July 3, 1965) is an American former baseball left fielder who played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1989–1996), San Diego Padres (1996–1998), Cincinnati Reds (1999), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000–2002) and Colorado Ro ...

(in ) to

homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

in four consecutive games.

New York Mets

The Padres traded him to the

for

Mike Cameron Michael Terrance Cameron (born January 8, 1973) is an American former professional Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, B ...

on November 18, 2005. Nady underwent an emergency

appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...

early in the morning on May 30, 2006. As a result, he was placed on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

, and returned to the lineup on June 18. DSC00821 Xavier Nady

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 30, 2006, Mets set-up relief pitcher

Duaner Sánchez Duaner Sánchez (born October 14, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He is a right-handed relief pitcher. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Sánchez pitched for Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Ange ...

was injured when the cab in which he was a passenger was broadsided. The Mets' pitching corps was already depleted with star pitcher

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

on the disabled list. Desperate for pitching, the Mets were forced to give up Nady, their starting right fielder, to the Pirates in exchange for pitchers

Óliver Pérez Óliver Pérez Martínez (born August 15, 1981) is a Mexican professional baseball pitcher for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, ...

and Roberto Hernández.

New York Yankees

On July 26, 2008, the New York Yankees acquired Nady and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Dámaso Marte Dámaso Marte Saviñón (born February 14, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played for the Seattle Mariners (), Pittsburgh Pirates (, –), Chicago White Sox (–), and New York Yankees (–). Professional c ...

from the Pittsburgh Pirates for

José Tábata José Nicolas Tábata (born August 12, 1988) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He was an international signee (2005) of the New York Yankees and, by 2008, became the Yankees' No. 2 prospect. He played in Major L ...

Ross Ohlendorf Curtis Ross Ohlendorf (born August 8, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, and Ci ...

Daniel McCutchen Daniel Thomas McCutchen (born September 26, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Amateur career McCutchen attend ...

, and

Jeff Karstens Jeffrey Wayne Karstens (born September 24, 1982) is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Karstens pitched for the New York Yankees in 2006 and 2007 and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2008 to 2012. High schoo ...

. Nady had a career-high six (6) RBIs as the Yankees came back to beat the

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 ...

on August 3, 2008. He finished the 2008 season setting career-highs in home runs (25) and runs batted in (97), and had a .305 batting average. On January 21, 2009, Nady signed a one-year contract worth $6.65 million with the Yankees, thus avoiding arbitration. On April 14, 2009, Nady suffered a right-elbow injury which ultimately required a second

on July 8, despite an initial attempt to rehab the injury. The surgery ended his 2009 season. As a result,

Nick Swisher Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chica ...

took over in Nady's position for the remainder of the 2009 season. Nady spent the season (including the postseason) on the disabled list until the Yankees won the

2009 World Series The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 season. As the 105th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National Leag ...

against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. He filed for free agency following the conclusion of the 2009 season. While Nady played only seven games for the Yankees in 2009, he did receive a World Series ring following the team's Series victory that season.

Chicago Cubs

On January 29, 2010, Nady signed a one-year contract with the

. On May 16, 2010, Nady hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning against the Pirates, as the Cubs won 4–3. Nady finished the season with a .256 batting average, six home runs and 33 runs batted in. He became a free agent after the end of the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Nady signed a one-year contract with the

on December 15, 2010. He became a free agent after the end of the season.

Washington Nationals

Nady signed a minor league contract with the

on March 18, 2012. He was called up by the Nationals on April 4. Following a trip to the

midway through the season, Nady was designated for assignment on July 21, 2012 and released on July 29, 2012. Nationals outfielder

Bryce Harper Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Wash ...

, a rookie during the 2012 season, later named Nady among the veteran teammates from whom he learned early on in his playing career.

San Francisco Giants

Nady was signed to a minor league contract by the

on August 4, 2012, and assigned to their Triple-A affiliate in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

. He made his debut for the Giants on September 1, 2012, and hit a three-run double against the Cubs in his first at-bat. On September 30, Nady hit a game-tying ninth-inning home run against the San Diego Padres in a game that the Giants went on to win in extra innings. He was on the active roster during the

2012 World Series The 2012 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2012 season. The 108th edition of the World Series, the series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and th ...

in which the team swept the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in four games.

Kansas City Royals

On December 14, 2012, Nady signed a minor league contract with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. During Spring training, Nady struggled first with

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain (PHP) is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the f ...

and then sustained a partial tear in his right heel. The Royals released him on March 25, 2013, and then re-signed him to a Minor League contract later the same week. He played with their Triple-A team in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

. Nady was released on June 29.

Colorado Rockies

Nady signed a minor league deal with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

on June 30, 2013.

Second stint with Padres

Nady signed a minor league deal with the

in January 2014. He was designated for assignment on May 5, 2014. On May 11, Nady refused his outright assignment and elected free agency.

Seattle Mariners

On May 27, 2014, Nady signed a minor league deal with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. He exercised an opt-out clause in his contract on June 26, becoming a free agent.

Coaching career

On June 20, 2015, Nady began his tenure as the hitting coach for the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park se ...

, the Single A affiliate of the

Personal life

Nady's wife, Meredith, had their first child, a son, on July 15, 2008. His second son was born on September 8, 2011. His uncle is boxing referee

Jay Nady Jay Nady (born August 23, 1947) is a championship boxing referee and the uncle of former Major League Baseball outfielder Xavier Nady. Biography Nady boxed and played football at the University of Nevada, Reno in the 1960s. For his accomplishm ...

. After an intestinal illness prior to

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 ...

in 2007, Nady was tested for

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...

due to family history of the disease. The tests turned out negative and Nady was instead diagnosed with a minor infection of the

small intestines The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the pa ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nady, Xavier 1978 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from California California Golden Bears baseball players Chicago Cubs players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Fresno Grizzlies players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball right fielders Minor league baseball coaches New York Mets players New York Yankees players Norfolk Tides players Omaha Storm Chasers players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Potomac Nationals players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Sportspeople from Salinas, California Tacoma Rainiers players Washington Nationals players