Craig Alan Gentry (born November 29, 1983) is an American former

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 professiona ...

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 ...

. He played in

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) for the Texas Rangers,

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

and

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 ...

Baseball career

Texas Rangers

Gentry was a multi-sport athlete at Fort Smith Christian High School, and then attended the

University of Arkansas – Fort Smith A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

during his freshman and sophomore years. He then attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Arkansas Razorbacks baseball The University of Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and is coached by Dave Van Horn. The program started in 1897, and is in its 100th seaso ...

team. The Texas Rangers selected him in the 10th round (298th overall) of the 2006 MLB draft. The Rangers promoted Gentry to the majors on September 1, 2009, but he did not see significant playing time. He began the 2010 season with the AAA

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, ...

, but was called up to the majors on April 27 due to Nelson Cruz being placed on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. On May 15, he was optioned back to Oklahoma City. In 2011, Gentry batted .271 in 133 at-bats, with 18 steals in 18 attempts. He hit his first MLB triple on September 11 against the

. A few days later, on September 23, he hit his first Major League home run, an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score ...

against the

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 ...

. At the end of the season, he was named the Rangers' Rookie of the Year. In 2012, Gentry batted .304, a career high. He also hit his first outside-the-park home run, a two-run homer to left in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

on April 30. Gentry pitched the final inning of a 12–1 loss at the hands of the Oakland Athletics on June 4. He allowed two runs on three hits and a walk. In 2013, Gentry hit two home runs, stole 24 bases and had an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .373, all career highs. He broke his left hand in June against the Oakland Athletics on a

bunt Bunt may refer to: * Bunt (community), an elite social group from Karnataka, India * Bunt (baseball), a batting technique in baseball * Bunt (sail), a part of a ship's sail * Bunt Island, island in Antarctica * The Bunt, nickname of the Buntingfo ...

attempt. Gentry was named Rangers' player of the month in September after batting .354 with 10 stolen bases, 10 runs, 2 doubles, a triple and four RBI. He also won the Rangers'

Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award The Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award was awarded annually to the best defensive player at each fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB). The award was given between 2012 and 2019. An overall Defensive Player of the Year and a De ...

. In 102 games, he committed 2 errors, had 7 outfield assists, saved 12 runs and had the best UZR on the team.

Oakland Athletics

On December 3, 2013, Gentry, along with pitcher Josh Lindblom, was traded to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Michael Choice and infielder Chris Bostick. Gentry missed much of

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

in 2014, due to a lower back strain he suffered on the first day of workouts. Gentry played most of the season with a sore knee. On July 27, he suffered a broken right hand when hit by a pitch during a bunt attempt against the Texas Rangers. Although the injury occurred during the second inning, he played the entire game including four more plate appearances. On September 9, Gentry suffered a season-ending

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentratio ...

after a collision at first base with Carlos Sanchez of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Due to his injuries, Gentry played in only 94 games, batting .254/.319/.289. He still managed to finish the season with 20 stolen bases which made him Oakland's leader in that category. After hitting .120/.196/.200 with no home runs and 3 RBIs in 50 at bats over 26 games for the A's in 2015, Gentry was sent down to AAA. He remained in AAA for the rest of the season and was designated for assignment after the season.

Los Angeles Angels

Gentry signed a one-year deal with the

on December 9, 2015. He began the 2016 season as a platoon player in LF with

Daniel Nava Daniel James Nava (born February 22, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Philadelphia Phillie ...

. His struggles from 2015 continued into the 2016 season as Gentry began the season 5-for-34 at the plate and on May 1, was placed on the disabled list. On July 30, Gentry was designated for assignment by the Angels and released on August 3, after declining an outright assignment. For the season, in 34 at bats he hit .147/.237/.176 with no home runs and 2 RBIs.

Baltimore Orioles

Gentry signed a minor league contract with the

on February 18, 2017. On April 16, Gentry hit his first home run with the Orioles, a two-run blast off

Matt Dermody Matthew Phillip Dermody (born July 4, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago Cubs, and in Nippon Pro ...

. Gentry hit a walk-off single on July 31 against

Joakim Soria Joakim Agustín Soria Ramos (born May 18, 1984) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Milwa ...

of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

. Gentry signed another minor league contract with the Orioles on February 7, 2018. His contract was purchased by the Orioles on March 29, 2018. On the same day his contract was purchased, opening day occurred against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

, where Gentry robbed Eddie Rosario of a home run in right field. The Orioles won 3-2. He was designated for assignment on August 31, 2018. He hit .269 with a home run and 12 stolen bases. He was released on September 5, 2018.

San Francisco Giants

On February 14, 2019, Gentry signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

. He was released on March 26, 2019.

Colorado Rockies

On April 9, 2019, Gentry signed a minor league deal with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

Retirement

On May 2, 2019, Gentry announced his retirement from baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentry, Craig 1983 births Living people Baseball players from Arkansas Sportspeople from Fort Smith, Arkansas Major League Baseball center fielders Texas Rangers players Oakland Athletics players Los Angeles Angels players Baltimore Orioles players Arkansas–Fort Smith Lions baseball players Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players Spokane Indians players Arizona League Rangers players Bakersfield Blaze players West Oahu Canefires players Clinton LumberKings players Frisco RoughRiders players Oklahoma RedHawks players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Round Rock Express players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Stockton Ports players Sacramento River Cats players Nashville Sounds players Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino players Salt Lake Bees players Norfolk Tides players Frederick Keys players Bowie Baysox players Albuquerque Isotopes players