Raymond Payne "Chip" Ambres (born December 19, 1979) is a former

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 ...

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), ...

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 c ...

Florida Marlins

Ambres was born in Beaumont, Texas. As a senior at

West Brook Senior High School West Brook Senior High School is a high school in the city of Beaumont, Texas. It is operated by the Beaumont Independent School District and was formed in 1982 as a court-ordered measure to integrate the schools of the formerly separate South Park ...

in Beaumont, Texas, Ambres was named a second team All-American by Baseball America, a

USA Today All-USA high school baseball team Each year, ''USA Today'', an American newspaper, awards outstanding high-school baseball players with a place on its All-USA High School Baseball Team. The newspaper names athletes whom they believe to be the best baseball players from high school ...

member, and was a highly recruited

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. Ambres signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, but opted for baseball after he was selected 27th overall by the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

in the

1998 Major League Baseball Draft The 1998 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, 1998. A total of 1445 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

and offered a $1.5 million signing bonus. In , Ambres was named the No. 6 prospect in the Marlins organization by Baseball America. He was unable to make the majors with the Marlins, becoming a six-year minor league free agent at the end of the 2004 season, his second at the AA level.

Boston Red Sox

On December 21, 2004 Ambres signed a minor league contract with the

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 eigh ...

. On July 19, 2005, they traded him, along with minor leaguer Juan Cedeno, to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Tony Graffanino.

Kansas City Royals

Ambres did not break into the Major Leagues until he was with his third organization, the Kansas City Royals. One day after being acquired from the Red Sox, he made his Major League debut at Jacobs Field in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

against the Indians, going 2-for-4 with a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

. Ambres' 2005 rookie campaign was his best and most active season to-date. He finished 2005 with a

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 .241 with four

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 nine RBI in 53 games. Ambres struggled with the Royals' AAA-franchise Omaha in and did not appear in any games with the parent club, becoming a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in October.

New York Mets

On December 27, 2006, the New York Mets signed Ambres to a minor league contract . Ambres was called up on July 17, and had the game-winning hit on July 22, his first Major League hit since 2005. Exactly one week later, Ambres was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

to clear a roster spot for Damion Easley who returned from the bereavement list. He was assigned to Triple-A

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and finished the season there. Following the 2007 season, he became a free agent once again.

San Diego Padres

On November 19, 2007, he signed a minor league contract with San Diego and was invited to spring training. Ambres was called up on July 8, 2008 for a game against the Florida Marlins. On July 26, Ambres was designated for assignment and outrighted to the minors on August 1 after clearing waivers. The Padres brought him back on September 2. Ambres elected to become a free agent after the end of the season after being outrighted to the minors once again.

Boston Red Sox again

On January 24, Ambres signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox.

New York Mets again

On June 10, the New York Mets acquired Chip Ambres from the Boston Red Sox as part of a conditional deal. The veteran outfielder was assigned to the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

, where he finished the season and his professional playing career. In parts of 11 minor league seasons, Ambres batted .259/.358/.436, slugging 125 HR and stealing 175 bases.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambres, Chip 1979 births Living people Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball outfielders Kansas City Royals players New York Mets players San Diego Padres players Sportspeople from Beaumont, Texas African-American baseball players Gulf Coast Marlins players Utica Blue Sox players Kane County Cougars players Carolina Mudcats players Jupiter Hammerheads players Pawtucket Red Sox players Omaha Royals players New Orleans Zephyrs players Portland Beavers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople