Christopher Edwin Duncan (May 5, 1981 – September 6, 2019) was an American 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 ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

and

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 played for the St. Louis Cardinals of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) from 2005 through 2009. He was the youngest son of Dave Duncan, a former

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 catc ...

and retired pitching coach for the Cardinals. His older brother, Shelley, was also a

and

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 catch ...

in MLB. After his playing career, he worked as a mid-day radio program host on WXOS, the St. Louis

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

affiliate.

Early life

Duncan was a graduate of Canyon del Oro High School in the Tucson suburb of Oro Valley, Arizona. While there he was a teammate of Ian Kinsler. The St. Louis Cardinals selected Duncan in the first round (46th overall) in the

1999 Major League Baseball draft The 1999 Major League Baseball draft, was the annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1,474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections Supplemental fir ...

as a supplemental pick for loss of free agent Delino DeShields to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

Playing career

Duncan made his professional debut with the

Johnson City Cardinals The Johnson City Cardinals were a Minor League Baseball team based in Johnson City, Tennessee. The team was affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals organization from 1975 through 2020 and played in the Rookie League, Rookie-level Appalachian Leagu ...

of the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

shortly after his 1999 signing. For the season, he batted .214 with six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s. He spent 2000 and parts of 2001 and 2002 in Class A, advancing to Double-A by 2003. In 2005, he reached Triple-A, appearing in 128 games for the Memphis Redbirds, batting .265 with 21 home runs. Duncan made his major league debut on September 10, 2005. He appeared in nine MLB games over the next month, batting 2-for-10 (.200). On October 2, 2005, he became the last player to hit a regular season home run at

Busch Memorial Stadium Busch Memorial Stadium (Busch Stadium II) was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri, that operated for 40 years, from 1966 St. Louis Cardinals season, 1966 through 2005 St. Louis Cardinals season, 2005. Built as Civic Center Bu ...

2006

After spending most of the first half of the 2006 season working his way into the regular roster, Duncan hit very well and ended the season with impressive power numbers. In 2006, he was third in all of baseball behind David Ortiz and Ryan Howard in homers per

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

for players with at least 75 at bats. For the season, Duncan hit 22 home runs. In the 2006 World Series, Duncan appeared in three of the five games, going 1-for-8 with one RBI. He committed an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

in the fourth inning of Game 5 which was promptly followed by a two-run homer by Sean Casey, and misplayed a fly ball by Casey, which was ruled a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, in the sixth inning. However, Duncan and the Cardinals won the game and the Series, defeating the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

four games to one. Following the 2006 season, Duncan was named the team's Rookie of the Year.

2007

Duncan became a regular starter for the Cardinals in 2007, playing 127 of the team's 162 games that season. He batted .259/.354/.480, hitting 21 home runs (second on team) and 70

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 ...

(RBIs) (second on team), and third in doubles (20). He started 90 games in the outfield, committing two errors. He also finished second in total bases (180). He led the team in strikeouts with 123. On September 20, 2007, Duncan underwent surgery for a sports hernia. It was successful and he returned to the clubhouse on September 22. His brother, Shelley, also suffered a sports hernia; the brothers were very competitive and had been trying to outdo one another in their workouts.

2008

In 2008, after hitting .252 in 127 at bats, Duncan was sent down to his former team, the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, on May 30. Joe Mather took his spot on the Major League roster. Duncan was recalled in June to fill the hole at first base, which was left open after

Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (, ; born December 11, 1985) is a Dominicans, Dominican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Domin ...

went on the disabled list for a period of 15 days. He would spend most of his time in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

after Pujols returned to the lineup. On July 22, Duncan was placed on the disabled list after experiencing severe discomfort in his arm, hand, and neck. The club called the injury a " pinched nerve". On August 2, it was reported that Duncan would miss the rest of the 2008 season after having surgery to address a herniated cervical disk in his neck. He ended the season with a .248 batting average, six home runs, and 27 RBIs over 222 at bats.

2009

Duncan successfully recovered from the surgery that ended his 2008 season, however, hit only .227, with five home runs and 32 RBIs in 260 at bats with the Cardinals. On July 22, Duncan was optioned to the Cardinals' triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds. A day later, he was traded to 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

along with a player-to-be-named-later or cash for

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Julio Lugo and cash considerations. The Red Sox assigned Duncan to their triple-A affiliate, the Pawtucket Red Sox. After batting only .188 with two home runs and ten RBIs at Pawtucket, Boston released Duncan on August 21, 2009.

Late career

On January 19, 2010, Duncan signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

with an invitation to spring training. He played for the Syracuse Chiefs of the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

in 2010, his final professional season, batting .191 with seven home runs in 82 games.

Post-playing career

Beginning on October 2, 2011, Duncan was a host for WXOS, the

affiliate in St. Louis. He began on the nightly program "Stully and Duncan." On January 4, 2012, he was replaced by former Fast Lane commentator Bob Ramsey, making the show "Stully and Rammer", while he moved to co-host "The Fast Lane" with Randy Karraker and former St. Louis Rams defensive tackle and

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

champion D'Marco Farr. He was also a co-host of "The Turn" with Anthony Stalter.

Illness and death

In October 2012, Duncan was diagnosed with a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

and underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. On January 9, 2019, it was announced that Duncan was taking a permanent leave of absence from his ESPN radio show to continue his fight against

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

. Duncan died from

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

in Tucson on September 6, 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Chris 1981 births 2019 deaths St. Louis Cardinals players Baseball players from Tucson, Arizona Major League Baseball left fielders Johnson City Cardinals players Peoria Chiefs players Potomac Cannons players Palm Beach Cardinals players Tennessee Smokies players Memphis Redbirds players Pawtucket Red Sox players Syracuse Chiefs players Deaths from brain cancer in Arizona Deaths from glioblastoma