Andrew Michael Tracy (born December 11, 1973) is an American former

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)

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 ...

who played for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, Colorado Rockies, and Philadelphia Phillies between 2000 and 2009, and is currently the manager for the Columbus Clippers.

Amateur career

A native of

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan ...

, Tracy attended Bowling Green High School and

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

. In 1994, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Professional career

Montreal Expos

Drafted by the

in the 16th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, Tracy made his Major League Baseball debut with the Expos on April 25, . Tracy compiled what would become a career high .260

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 ...

with 11

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 ...

s and 32 RBI in 2000. Tracy split time backing up Expos starting first baseman

Lee Stevens DeWain Lee Stevens (born July 10, 1967) is a former first baseman and designated hitter drafted by the California Angels in 1986. A highly regarded prospect, Stevens batted .314 with 19 home runs for the Triple A Edmonton Trappers in 1991. The ...

and starting

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Michael Barrett. Tracy entered Spring Training of competing for the starting third base position. The position was vacated when Barrett moved to the

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

position. Tracy competed with

Geoff Blum Geoffrey Edward Blum (born April 26, 1973) is an American former professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Dia ...

Fernando Tatís Fernando Gabriel Tatís Medina Sr. (born January 1, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) manager. Over his 11-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Tatís played for the Texas R ...

, Mike Mordecai, and

Ryan Minor Ryan Dale Minor (born January 5, 1974) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, minor league baseball manager and professional basketball player. He played all, or parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1998 to 2 ...

for the position, which ultimately went to Blum. After compiling a mere .109 batting average with 2 home runs and 8 RBI throughout the season, Tracy was selected off waivers from the Expos by 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 ...

on March 27, .

Colorado Rockies

Tracy would not appear at the MLB level again until the season. He spent the 2002 and seasons in the minor league systems of the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies, respectively. Tracy returned to the majors in 2004, appearing in 15 games for the Rockies, serving primarily as a pinch hitter. A .188 batting average with no home runs and one RBI was Tracy's offensive result by season's end. Tracy began the season playing for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the Triple-AAA affiliate of the Rockies.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Midway through the season he left the Rockies organization and finished the campaign playing for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

of the Japanese Pacific League. The and seasons saw Tracy return to playing in the minor league systems of MLB's

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and New York Mets, with no appearances in the majors.

Philadelphia Phillies

Tracy was invited to attend Spring Training with the Philadelphia Phillies as a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

prior to the season, but was assigned to minor league camp on March 9, 2008. Tracy was assigned to the Phillies' Triple-AAA affiliate, the

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

, in Allentown, Pennsylvania until his call up to Philadelphia on August 23, . Before his call-up Tracy had not appeared at the MLB level since October 3, 2004. Tracy was designated for assignment on August 27 and was outrighted to the minors, but returned when the rosters expanded on September 1. He broke his hand, while playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, late in 2008 as a result of a line drive which ended his season. The Phillies announced on September 9, 2009 that they would be releasing veteran pitcher Rodrigo López to make room on the roster for Tracy. The Phillies would win the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and the National League pennant in 2009. Though Tracy was not an active member of the postseason roster in either season, he did accompany the club throughout the playoffs. On August 5, 2010 it was announced that Tracy would be pulled from the IronPigs line up and benched to allow Matt Rizzotti to become the everyday first baseman after he was very successful for the

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. According to Matt Eddy of baseballamerica.com, Tracy became a free agent after the 2010 season ended. Tracy signed a minor league contract with the

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 ...

on December 25, 2010 and was invited to 2011 Spring Training.

Coaching career

After the 2011 season, Tracy retired and was named manager of the

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they were ...

, the Phillies class A farm team.

References

External links

Andy Tracy
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Andy 1973 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Bravos de Margarita players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Baseball coaches from Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Bowling Green Falcons baseball players Cape Fear Crocs players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Gigantes del Cibao players Harrisburg Senators players Jupiter Hammerheads players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players Norfolk Tides players Orleans Firebirds players Ottawa Lynx players People from Bowling Green, Ohio Philadelphia Phillies players Reno Aces players Tigres del Licey players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Tulsa Drillers players Vermont Expos players Yaquis de Obregón players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico