Gregory Joseph Colbrunn (born July 26, 1969) is an American former Major League

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

and hitting coach. Primarily a

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 ...

during his active career, the Fontana, California, native played in the Major Leagues for 13 seasons (1992–2004) and seven different teams. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed at tall and . He served as 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 ...

hitting coach during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Colbrunn graduated from Fontana High School and was selected by 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 ...

in the sixth round of the

1987 Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional con ...

, turning down a scholarship from Stanford University to begin his

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 professional ...

career.''2014 Boston Red Sox Media Guide'' biography Despite missing the entire 1991 season with an injury, he rose through the Montreal farm system and made his MLB debut with the Expos on July 9, 1992, and singled in his first at bat off Francisco Oliveras of 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 Y ...

Playing career

After his debut with Montreal, Colbrunn would also play for 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 ...

, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies,

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 (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

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 ...

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. He batted over .300 five times during his Major League career, and had his most successful seasons with the Marlins and Diamondbacks, exceeding the 100- games played mark in , and . He set personal bests in home runs (23) and

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the ba ...

(89) for the 1995 Marlins, and amassed 146 hits for the Marlins in both and . He batted .310 in 334 career games with the D-Backs, with a career-high .333 mark during part-time duty in . He

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...

on September 18, 2002, against the

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 ...

. Colbrunn was part of the Diamondbacks' victorious

2001 World Series The 2001 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the three-t ...

team, starting at first base in Game 6 and collecting two singles in five at bats, with a base on balls, two runs scored and one RBI, in Arizona's 15–2 thrashing of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. In his 13-season MLB career, Colbrunn batted .289; his 801 career hits included 155 doubles, 12 triples and 98 homers.

Batting coach

After his playing career ended in 2005, Colbrunn became a coach in the Yankees' organization, serving as the hitting instructor for the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Hi ...

of the Single-A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

from 2007–09 and in 2011–12. In 2010, Colbrunn managed the RiverDogs to a 65–74 (.468) record. Then, following the season, Colbrunn joined the coaching staff of new Red Sox manager John Farrell as primary batting instructor. Under his guidance, the 2013 Red Sox led the Major Leagues in runs scored (853), runs per game (5.27), slugging percentage (.446), on-base percentage (.349),

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

(.795),

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...

(2,521) and

extra-base hits In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

(570). The Red Sox won the

American League East Division The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

title, the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant and the

2013 World Series The 2013 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2013 season. The 109th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Le ...

. Colbrunn returned to Farrell's staff for . On June 4, he was compelled to take a medical leave of absence after he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage during the Red Sox' road trip to Cleveland, Ohio, and was hospitalized in the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

. He returned to his duties on a part-time basis on June 30. However, the 2014 Red Sox struggled offensively all season long, finishing at or near the bottom of the American League in almost every category, including runs scored (12th, with 634).ESPN.com 2014.10.03
/ref> After the 2014 season concluded, Colbrunn stepped down from his position with the Red Sox and declined another assignment within the organization. Colbrunn, a resident of nearby

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. In the Low Country, it is the fourth largest municipality and largest town in South Carolina, and for several years was one of the state's fastest-growin ...

, then returned to the Yankees' organization and the

as their batting coach for 2015–16. In , the Yankees promoted him to roving minor league hitting coordinator, but he returned to being the hitting coach for the 2019 Charleston team, in order to be closer to his family.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Colbrunn, Greg 1969 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Diamondbacks players Atlanta Braves players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from California Boston Red Sox coaches Brevard County Manatees players Colorado Rockies players Edmonton Trappers players Everett AquaSox players Florida Marlins players Indianapolis Indians players Jacksonville Expos players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball hitting coaches Minnesota Twins players Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players Oklahoma RedHawks players Ottawa Lynx players Rockford Expos players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Charleston, South Carolina West Palm Beach Expos players Tacoma Rainiers players Tucson Sidewinders players

Playing career

Batting coach

See also

References

External links