Curtis Granderson

From BR Bullpen

Curtis Granderson

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
School University of Illinois at Chicago
Debut September 13, 2004
Born March 16, 1981 in Blue Island, IL USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Curtis Granderson is the current center fielder of the Detroit Tigers. He has made headlines for blending speed and power at the top of Detroit's batting order. He knocked 19 home runs while serving as the lead off hitter for the 2006 Tigers, the American League champions. He is strikeout prone--whiffing 174 times in 2006, but also draws a fair amount of walks.

The Tigers drafted Granderson in the third round of the 2002 amateur draft. He spent his first professional season playing for the Oneonta Tigers. His average was .344 in 212 at bats. He hit .286 with 10 home runs and 11 stolen bases with the Lakeland Tigers in 2003, and ripped 21 home runs for Erie in 2004. The Tigers gave Granderson a cup of coffee in 2004, he racked up six hits in 25 at bats. He did well with triple-A Toledo in 2005, hitting .290 with 15 home runs, and hit eight home runs in 162 at bats with the Tigers.

Granderson won a Spring Training position battle over Nook Logan in 2006, and opened the season as Detroit's starting center fielder. He posted a .260 average, drove in 68 runs, and piled up 59 extra base hits.

In the final game before the 2007 all-star break, Granderson made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Wily Mo Pena of a home run. Baseball Tonight declared it to be the best web gem of the first half.

On September 9th, 2007, Granderson became only the 3rd player in Major League history to have at least 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 20 triples and 20 doubles in one season. The others were Frank Schulte in 1911 for the Chicago Cubs and Willie Mays, who accomplished the feat while playing for the New York Giants in 1957.