Jeffrey Michael Blauser (born November 8, 1965) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

from 1987 to 1999.

Career

Blauser went to Placer High School in

Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a Califo ...

, and Sacramento City College. He was selected by the Braves in the first round (4th pick) of the 1984 June amateur draft (secondary phase) and made his major league debut on July 5, 1987. Blauser was a powerful right-handed shortstop at 6' 0", 170 lb. He hit well for a middle infielder but was shaky with the glove, which often led him to be replaced on the field in the later innings."Jeff Blauser Biography"
. ''baseballlibrary.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-1. In 1993, Blauser had a breakout season, batting over .300 for the first time and scoring 110 runs. He was named to the

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team. During the next few seasons, Blauser's production suffered. In 1995, his .211 batting average was the worst among qualified hitters. He made 23 errors in 1996 and spent half the season on the disabled list. He came back in 1997, however, batting .308 with 17

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 70

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

. He was an All-Star for the second time and also won the

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best Batting (baseball), offensive player at each Baseball positions, position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (baseball), National League (NL), as determ ...

for

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

shortstops. After the 1997 season, Blauser signed a 2-year, $8.2 million deal with the Cubs as a free agent. The contract also contained a club option for 2000 worth $7 million. In two years with them, he struggled with injuries and batted under .230. After the 1999 season, the Cubs declined to pick up his 2000 option, opting instead to pay a $200,000 buyout. Blauser retired after the season. Blauser retired with a lifetime

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 ...

of .262, 122 home runs and 513 RBI. He managed the

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they were referred to locally, were a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, from 2005 to 2024. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and competed in ...

, the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, during the 2006 season.

References

External links

Jeff Blauser Interview at Baseball Digest Daily - March 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blauser, Jeff 1965 births Living people Placer High School alumni Major League Baseball shortstops National League All-Stars Atlanta Braves players Chicago Cubs players Sumter Braves players Richmond Braves players Baseball players from Los Gatos, California Sacramento City Panthers baseball players Silver Slugger Award winners