Brian Allan Dopirak (born December 20, 1983) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in the second round of the

2002 MLB draft The 2002 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book ''Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first round compensation selections * *Did Not Sign With Team Compensation ...

Early life

High school

Dopirak attended

Dunedin High School Dunedin High School is a high school in Dunedin, Florida, United States. It is operated by the Pinellas County School Board. The school mascot is Freddie the Falcon. The official school colors are red and white, though red and black have become ...

. He was originally selected by Chicago Cubs in the second round (56th overall) of the

2002 Major League Baseball draft The 2002 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis (author), Michael Lewis' 2003 book ''Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first r ...

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

Dopirak spent 2002, his first professional season, with the rookie-level

Arizona League Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of playe ...

batting .253 with no

home runs 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 ...

and six runs. In 2003, Dopirak played for the Low-A

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

, batting .240 while clubbing 13 home runs and 37

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

. He was then promoted to the Single-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, concluding the 2003 hitting another two more home runs. In 2004, he hit 39 home runs and 120 RBI with Lansing to go along with a .307 batting average. After the 2004 season, Dopirak experienced injury problems. He spent the 2005 campaign with the High-A

Daytona Cubs Daytona may refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach, Florida * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Daytona, the region around Daytona Beach Motor racing * Day ...

, batting .235/.290/.382 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI across 131 appearances. On November 18, 2005, the Cubs added Dopirak to their

40-man roster 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, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Two left foot surgeries in 2006 resulted in a setback, and Dopirak hit .257 with one home run and 23 RBI in 52 games for the Double-A

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Marin ...

. On August 6, 2007, Dopirak 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 ...

following the promotion of Eric Patterson. The transaction culminated in his release following the 2007 season. In 115 appearances split between Daytona and the Double-A

Tennessee Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

, Dopirak slashed a combined .266/.311/.449 with 18 home runs and 68 RBI.

Toronto Blue Jays

Dopirak signed a minor league contract with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

in March 2008. Dopirak was assigned to the High-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

, where he slashed .308/.382/.577 with hitting 27 home runs and 88 RBI. He was promoted to the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate, the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Ja ...

, where he stayed for the remainder of the year. With New Hampshire, Dopirak batted .287/.297/.425 with two home runs and 13 RBI. Dopirak started the 2009 season with the Fisher Cats and hit .308/.374/.576 to go along with 19 home runs and 68 RBI. He then earned another promotion to the Jays' Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s. With Las Vegas, Dopirak hit .330/.366/.509 with eight home runs and 34 RBI. On November 9, 2009, Dopirak's contract was purchased by Toronto, adding him to their

. On June 16, 2010, Dopirak was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas. In 86 games for he 51s, he batted .274/.309/.454 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI. Dopirak became a free agent on October 5.

Houston Astros

On November 13, 2010, Dopirak signed a one-year minor league contract with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

that included an invitation to spring training. He played in 57 games for the Triple-A

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, hitting .252/.287/.429 with six home runs and 17 RBI. Dopirak was released by the Astros organization on June 16, 2011.

Awards

*High School All-American 2002 (DH) *

Midwest League Most Valuable Player Award The Midwest League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's Midwest League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league manager (baseball), managers. League broadcas ...

2004 *Top Prospect MLB (#21) * FSL Post-Season All-Star *FSL Player of the Week 2008 *FSL Mid-Season All-Star 2008 *R. Howard Webster Award 2008 (

) *

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Double-A All-Star * Eastern League (EAS) Post-Season All-Star 2009 *EAS Mid-Season All-Star 2009 *EAS Player of the Week 2009 *EAS Player of the Week 2009 *R. Howard Webster Award 2009 (

)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dopirak, Brian 1983 births Living people Baseball players from Tampa, Florida Arizona League Cubs players Lansing Lugnuts players Boise Hawks players Daytona Cubs players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Tennessee Smokies players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Dunedin Blue Jays players Las Vegas 51s players Dunedin High School alumni Baseball players from Dunedin, Florida