Todd Anthony "Moose" Linden (born June 30, 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

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 ...

and

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 in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Early life

Before being drafted by the

, he attended Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale, Washington and played collegiate baseball at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. After a tumultuous two years at Washington, Linden transferred to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, where he played center field. At LSU, Linden distinguished himself as a switch hitter by setting a Southeastern Conference record for games in a season with home runs hit from both sides of the plate. After the 2000 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Chatham A's of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

and was named a league all-star. Nicknamed "Moose" by his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees teammates after a horrible offensive showing in Charlotte, where he was visibly frustrated by a Charlotte Knights fan in the front row who berated him with moose references.

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

His first major league

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 ( ...

came on September 22, , off

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Kazuhisa Ishii. Linden, in only his 24th major league

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, b ...

, became just the 12th player to hit a home run into the second deck at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

, which opened in . On May 10, , he was designated for assignment.

Florida Marlins

He was claimed off waivers by the

on May 18, 2007. The Marlins released him following the 2007 season.

Oakland Athletics

On November 21, 2007, he was signed by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

to a minor league contract ( Sacramento River Cats) with an invitation to

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 ...

, but did not make the A's roster. On May 20, 2008, Linden was released by the Oakland A's.

Cleveland Indians

On May 27, 2008, Linden signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

New York Yankees

In January Linden signed a minor league contract (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees) with an invitation to spring training with the New York Yankees.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On June 12, 2009, the Yankees sold Linden's contract to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League.

San Francisco Giants

Linden attended minor league camp with the Giants in 2012.

Coaching

Linden is currently a coach in the

minor league system. He also coaches for city baseball year round.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linden, Todd 1980 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball coaches from Washington (state) Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chatham Anglers players Edmonton Capitals players Estrellas Orientales players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Florida Marlins players Fresno Grizzlies players Grand Canyon Rafters players LSU Tigers baseball players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball coaches Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Sportspeople from Edmonds, Washington Baseball players from Snohomish County, Washington Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Shreveport Swamp Dragons players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players 21st-century American sportsmen Venados de Mazatlán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Washington Huskies baseball players