Albert Shawn Gilbert Jr. (born March 12, 1965, in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...

) is an American former professional baseball player. He attended

Agua Fria Union High School Agua Fria High School is a public high school in Avondale, Arizona, United States. Operated by the Agua Fria Union High School District, it is the first school built in the district and its only school until the establishment of Millennium Hig ...

Avondale, Arizona Avondale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 89,334, up from 76,238 in 2010 and 35,883 in 2000. Avondale, incorporated in 1946, has experienced rap ...

. After high school, he attended

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

. Gilbert was drafted four times by three different teams-the

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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, Reds and

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

, however it was not until their second try the Twins were able to finally sign him in 1987. The 5'9", 185 pound Gilbert was not too imposing (some sources say he was as small as 170 pounds), but he held his own in the minors by using his small stature to swipe 40 or more bases in 3 out of 4 seasons between 1988 and 1991. He also hit .372 in 43 at-bats with Visalia in 1988. Gilbert, who batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, made his major league debut on June 2, 1997. Over the next few years, he bounced between the majors and minors but ended up swiping only 2 bases in 51 total major league games while hitting just .149. An interesting fact about Gilbert's MLB career is in 51 games he only had 47 at-bats and scored more runs than he had actual hits. Rarely for someone to appear in 50 or more career games does anyone have more runs than hits and more games than at-bats. Two other examples of this are

Charles Gipson Charles Wells Gipson Jr. (born December 16, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners (-), New York Yankees (), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (), and Houston Astros (). Gipson was a replacement player during the 1994 Majo ...

and

Glen Barker Glen F. Barker (born May 10, 1971, in Albany, New York) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played three seasons for the Houston Astros. He was a leadoff hitter who was known for his defensive skills and was used mainly as ...

. His last major league game was July 2, 2000, with the Dodgers. He ended up retiring from professional baseball in 2003 at the age of 38 after playing for the

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stad ...

in , then in the Dodgers and

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

farm systems in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Willie Banks William Augustus Banks III (born March 11, 1956) is an American athlete. Born at Travis Air Force Base, California, he grew up in San Diego County and went to Oceanside High School. Banks is an Eagle Scout. Track and Field Banks was a track & ...

, David West and

Jarvis Brown Jarvis Ardel Brown (born March 26, 1967) is an American Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, and Baltimore Orioles. He won the World Series with the Twins. Career Brown was born in ...

had been teammates of Gilbert for four seasons, longer than any other teammates. Gilbert is currently the head baseball coach at Servite High School in Anaheim, California.

References

External links

Long Beach State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Shawn 1965 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball coaches from New Jersey Baseball players from Camden, New Jersey Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Golden West Rustlers baseball players High school baseball coaches in the United States Kenosha Twins players Las Vegas 51s players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Redbirds players Nashville Sounds players New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Orlando Sun Rays players Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players People from Avondale, Arizona Baseball players from Maricopa County, Arizona Portland Beavers players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players St. Louis Cardinals players United States national baseball team players Visalia Oaks players Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in baseball Anchorage Glacier Pilots players