Adam Davis Hyzdu (; born December 6, 1971) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 ...

who 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 (A ...

(MLB) and

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). He batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. In Major League Baseball, he played for the

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 ...

(),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

( and ),

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 penn ...

(2005), and Texas Rangers ().

Biography

Hyzdu attended

Moeller High School Moeller High School ( ), known as Moeller, is a private, all-male, college-preparatory high school in the suburbs of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is currently one of four all-male Catholic high schools in the Cincinnati area. Hist ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, where he broke Ken Griffey Jr.'s

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 ...

record (22) and led his team to win the state championship in 1989. Hyzdu was drafted by the

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 Yo ...

in the first round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft, but never reached the major leagues as a Giant. Hyzdu is well known for his accomplishments in the minor leagues. During his two seasons with the Altoona Curve, he broke many franchise records, many of which still stand today. He was an

Eastern League Eastern League may refer to: Baseball in the United States ''Most recent leagues listed first'' * Eastern League (1938–present), a minor league established in 1923 and renamed Eastern League in 1938, at the Double-A level * Eastern League (1916� ...

All-Star both seasons and had his number 16 retired by the club. Hyzdu was named "

NL Player of the Week In Major League Baseball (MLB), the Player of the Week Award is given weekly during the regular season to two outstanding players, one each in the National League (NL) and American League (AL). The NL first awarded the honor during the season, an ...

" the Week for July 15–21, 2002 while playing outfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He batted .588 with three homers and a league-leading 11 RBI. In fives games during the week, Hyzdu was 10-for-17, scored six runs, and compiled a

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, ...

of 1.118 and an

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 ...

of .611. On July 19 versus St. Louis, he hit his first career grand slam. The following day, Hyzdu established career-highs with four hits, including a pair of three-run homers, and seven runs batted in. In a seven-season major league career, Hyzdu was a .229 hitter with 19 home runs and 61 RBI in 221 games. With the Red Sox in 2004, Hyzdu batted .300 (3 for 10) with a home run, two RBI, and 2 doubles in 17 games. In 129 games with Pawtucket, he batted .301 with 29 home runs, 79 RBI, and led the team in walks with 84. After the 2006 season, he joined the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

of the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

with a one-year contract. He batted .272 with 7 home runs in 47 games. After one season in Japan, he failed to get a contract extension and left the Hawks to be a free agent.

Personal life

Hyzdu is married with three children and an active member in his local Christian church, Red Mountain Community Church. His brother Mike Hyzdu played football for

Miami University of Ohio Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

from 1985–89 and his brother Marshall Hyzdu played football for

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

from 1996–99.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyzdu, Adam 1971 births Living people Baseball players from San Jose, California Major League Baseball outfielders Pittsburgh Pirates players Boston Red Sox players San Diego Padres players Texas Rangers players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players San Jose Giants players Shreveport Captains players Chattanooga Lookouts players Indianapolis Indians players Trenton Thunder players Pawtucket Red Sox players Tucson Sidewinders players Altoona Curve players Nashville Sounds players Portland Beavers players Oklahoma RedHawks players Baseball players from Cincinnati