Reginald Damascus Abercrombie (born July 15, 1980) 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 ...

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 ...

. He played in

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) 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 ...

and

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 ...

Professional career

Abercrombie graduated from Columbus High School. He was selected by the

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

in the 23rd round of 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 ...

, but chose to attend Florida Gateway College in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

during the 1999–2000 school year and signed on May 24, 2000. Abercrombie was later dealt to the

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 ...

at the trade deadline in 2004 and claimed off waivers by the

on April 6, 2005. After a strong

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

one year later in 2006, where he batted .358 with a .394

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 ...

and a .627

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 ...

, the

called him up to the big club. His ascent to the majors was somewhat surprising, considering he had only had brief stints above Single-A ball. Though once viewed as a marginal prospect, the Marlins had high hopes for him. In 2006, he joined a rookie cast that included Hanley Ramírez, Dan Uggla, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Johnson, Josh Willingham, Eric Reed, Mike Jacobs, and

Scott Olsen Scott Matthew Olsen (born January 12, 1984) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals between 2005 and 2010. Early life Olsen was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He attended Cr ...

, a group that overperformed considering the meager expectations which were placed on them due to the frugal nature of Marlins owner

Jeffrey Loria Jeffrey Harold Loria (born November 20, 1940) is an American entrepreneur, author, and the former owner of the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) and Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. Early life Loria was born and raised in a Je ...

. Abercrombie had some high points, but overall he did not stick as a starter for the Marlins in 2006 and ended up with only 281 plate appearances, a batting average of .212, an on-base percentage of .271, and a slugging percentage of .333, all well below the league averages. Though he never materialized into a consistent option for the Marlins, on April 19, 2006, while playing against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

at the

Great American Ball Park Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the Reds' fo ...

, Abercrombie, facing pitcher Mike Gosling, hit a

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 ( ...

486 feet, according to Hit Tracker Online's Standard Distance (considered "the best way of comparing home runs hit under a variety of different conditions" by the website). This home run was the furthest recorded distance of any home run since Hit Tracker had kept track of HR distances, until on September 27, 2008,

Adam Dunn Adam Troy Dunn (born November 9, 1979), nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Cincinnati Reds. A two-time Major L ...

of the

hit a home run of Standard Distance 501 feet. In the 2007 season, Abercrombie saw less time in the majors and again slumped at the plate, with a .197

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, .238 on-base percentage, and .316 slugging percentage in 80 plate appearances. He spent most of the season with the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

where he hit very well, with a .323 batting average, .361 on-base percentage, and .584 slugging percentage in 379 plate appearances.

Houston Astros

On October 11, 2007, the

claimed him off waivers from the Marlins. He was sent outright to the minors on March 28, 2008. On June 7, his contract was purchased and he was added to the active roster. He was designated for assignment almost one month later on July 6. After being sent outright to the minors, he was recalled by the Astros again on August 9. Although he only got 60 plate appearances in the major leagues, he had fairly good statistics in his time there, finishing the season with a .309 batting average and a .509 slugging percentage. On January 5, , he re-signed with the Houston Astros. He spent the entire 2009 campaign with Houston's AAA Round Rock club, slashing .271/.312/.412 with 11 HR, and was granted free agency on November 9, 2009.

Independent ball

Abercrombie joined the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

in 2010, signing a contract with the

Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translatio ...

. He was a popular player in Sioux Falls due to his help in leading the Pheasants to the 2010 American Association Championship Series, and he made the American Association All-Star Game. In total he recorded 22 home runs with 90 RBI and a .328 average. In 2011, Abercrombie posted a .304 average with 17 home runs and 66 RBI. Abercrombie spent much of the 2012 and 2013 seasons splitting time between Sioux Falls and the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. In 2012, he hit a combined .293 with 17 HR and 67 RBI for the Pheasants and Tigres de Quintana Roo. 2013 saw Abercrombie record a statline of .292/18/73 playing for Pericos de Puebla, Olmecas de Tabasco, and the renamed Sioux Falls Canaries. Abercrombie joined the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a professional minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of ...

for the 2014 season and hit .284 in 398 at bats with 15 home runs and 74 RBI. On February 9, 2015, he was traded by the Goldeyes to the

Sussex County Miners The Sussex County Miners are a professional baseball team based in Augusta, New Jersey. The Miners compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the East Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team plays its home games at Skylands Stadium ...

of the Canadian-American Association in exchange for cash and a player to be named later. He made three stops overall in 2015, playing with Sussex County, the

of the American Association and the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Base ...

of the Atlantic League. In addition to his minor league and major league experience, Abercrombie has played for teams in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

, the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (, or LMP), also known as the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons, is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league based in Northwestern Mexico. The league comprises 10 teams. It wa ...

, the Puerto Rican Winter League, and the

Dominican Winter League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played ...

. On December 7, 2015, it was announced that Abercrombie would be back with the Goldeyes for the 2016 season. Abercrombie then went on to help the Goldeyes win each of the next two league championships. He retired following the 2019 season. On August 11, 2023 the Winnipeg Goldeyes retired his number 11.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abercrombie, Reggie 1980 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Columbus, Georgia Carolina Mudcats players Florida Marlins players Great Falls Dodgers players Grand Canyon Rafters players Houston Astros players Jacksonville Suns players Jupiter Hammerheads players Lake City Timberwolves baseball players Lancaster JetHawks players Leones de Ponce baseball players Major League Baseball center fielders Mayos de Navojoa players Mexican League baseball center fielders Olmecas de Tabasco players Pericos de Puebla players Round Rock Express players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sioux Falls Canaries players Sioux Falls Pheasants players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Sussex County Miners players Tigres de Quintana Roo players Tigres del Licey players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Vero Beach Dodgers players Wilmington Waves players Winnipeg Goldeyes players Yaquis de Obregón players Florida Gateway College alumni