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

hitting coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

. 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

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

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

in the sixth round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft, turning down a scholarship from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

career.''2014 Boston Red Sox Media Guide'' biography Despite missing the entire 1991 season with an injury, he rose through the Montreal

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

and made his MLB debut with the Expos on July 9, 1992, and singled in his first

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, ...

off Francisco Oliveras of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

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 team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

and

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

. 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 Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

mark in , and . He set personal bests in

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 ...

(23) and

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 ...

(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 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Colbrunn was part of the Diamondbacks' victorious

2001 World Series The 2001 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 Major League Baseball season, 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (ba ...

team, starting at first base in Game 6 and collecting two singles in five at bats, with a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, two

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. 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. Char ...

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 h ...

from 2007 to 2009 and 2011 to 2012. 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 In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(.446),

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

(.349), on-base plus slugging (.795),

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

(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 title, the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant and the 2013 World Series. 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 Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

during the Red Sox' road trip to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, and was hospitalized in the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Academic health science center, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an O ...

. 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, 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 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 Baseball players from Charleston, South Carolina West Palm Beach Expos players Tacoma Rainiers players Tucson Sidewinders players Fontana High School alumni Baseball players from Fontana, California 20th-century American sportsmen

Playing career

Batting coach

See also

References

External links