Lee Cruz

Long Island Ducks – No. 25

Left fielder/DH/First baseman

Born: June 13, 1983
Dade City, Florida

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

MLB statistics
(through 2011)

Batting average

.294

Home runs

Runs batted in

381

Career highlights and awards

American Association League 2011 Player of the Year
American Association Batter of the Week May 22, 2011
NCAA Division II 2006 MVP College World Series
American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II 2006 All-South Region Baseball as Player of the Year
American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II 2006 All-South Region Baseball as a First Team Outfielder
University of Tampa 2006 First Team All-American Outfielder
American Baseball Coaches Association 2005 NCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year
University of Tampa 2005 First Team All-American Third Baseman
Pasco-Hernando State College NJCAA Baseball Team 2003 First-Team Suncoast Conference
Pasco-Hernando State College NJCAA Baseball Team 2003 First-Team All State

Lee Cruz (born June 13, 1983) is an American professional baseball player. Cruz (OF/DH/1B) is a native of Dade City, Florida. He currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife, daughter and son.

Career

The Long Island Ducks announced on August 28, 2012 that they have acquired outfielder Lee Cruz from the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association in exchange for a player to be named later. Cruz begins his first season with the Ducks and in the Atlantic League. The Long Island Ducks beat the Lancaster Barnstormers in five games to win the 2012 Atlantic League Championship on October 7, 2012.

Cruz split time this season with the T-Bones and Yucatan in the Mexican League. In 70 combined games, he compiled a .345 batting average with 15 home runs, 55 RBI and 24 doubles. A year ago, he earned American Association Player of the Year honors with the Amarillo Sox after batting .344 with 18 home runs and 94 RBI, good for second in the league. The 29-year-old was also second in the league in hits (144) while finishing first in total bases (242), doubles (38) and extra base hits (59).

Lee Cruz returned to the Kansas City TBones Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association on July 13, 2012. In 26 games with Yucatan, Cruz batted .330 with 31 hits, including eight doubles and eight home runs, a .670 slugging percentage, 26 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Cruz signed with the Leones de Yucatán Leones de Yucatan of the AAA MLB Mexican League Mexican League on May 22, 2012. Cruz had his contract purchased by the Kansas City TBones Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association on April 17, 2012. Cruz had his contract purchased by the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball.^[1] on December 16, 2011. Cruz was signed by the Amarillo Sox of the American Association League during April, 2011. Cruz hit .344 with 18 home runs and 94 RBI. He finished first in the league in total bases (242), tied for first in doubles (38) and second in hits (144), extra base hits (59), RBI and tied for first with most games played (100). Cruz's doubles and hits totals rank second all-time in Amarillo independent baseball history. For his efforts, he was named the American Association League’s 2011 Player of the Year^[2] and voted to the postseason all-star team. Cruz was also named the Batter of the Week in the American Association by Pointstreak,^[2] the official league statistician, for the week ending May 22. He hit .385 during that week, with two home runs and 11 RBI.

Cruz played for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League (AA) for the Chicago White Sox, Yuma Scorpions in the Golden Baseball League, Lancaster Jethawks in the California League and Round Rock Express in the Pacific Coast League (AAA) for the Houston Astros farm system in 2010. He was signed by the Scorpions in May, 2010. He batted .433/.452/.731 for the Scorpions in 17 games. He scored 20 runs and drove in 26. His OPS was 1.183. He batted .354/.380/.609 for the Jethawks in 67 games. He scored 49 runs and drove in 58. He hit 15 home runs. His OPS was .990. He batted 1.000 for the Express in 1 game with 1 at bat and a double.

Cruz played for the Winston-Salem Dash in the Carolina League (A+) and the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League (AA) for the Chicago White Sox farm system in 2009. He batted .263/.304/.442 for the Dash in 26 games. He scored 14 runs and drove in 14 runs. He batted .256/.290/.414. for the Barons in 65 games. He scored 28 runs and drove in 36 runs.

Cruz played for the Winston-Salem Warthogs in the Carolina League (A+) and the Kannapolis Intimidators, Birmingham Barons in the Southern League (AA) for the Chicago White Sox farm system in 2008.

Cruz made his professional debut at Rookie-level for the Kannapolis Intimidators in the South Atlantic League (A) for the Chicago White Sox farm system in 2007, hitting .301 (81-for-269) with 17 doubles, six triples, five home runs and 39 RBIs. He ranked fourth in the Pioneer League in triples - though in one game he dropped a routine fly, using the one-hand method; he was razzed mercilessly by fans for this effort. He led the team in hits and at-bats (269) and ranked second in runs (38), total bases (125), RBIs and slugging percentage (.465). He ranked fourth among Chicago White Sox farmhands in average and sixth in slugging percentage. Cruz went 30-for-76 (.395) with runners in scoring position. In 2007 Tabbed by Baseball America as the Best Pure Hitter, Best Late-Round Pick and Best Professional Debut among the White Sox 2006 draft class.

Cruz hit 26 homers during his college career at the University of Tampa, breaking a record held by former Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees star Tino Martinez. Cruz was the MVP of the 2006 NCAA Division II College World Series, was considered quite an acquisition by the Chicago White Sox for a 10th-round draft pick (315th overall) in 2006. Cruz was named to the 2006 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-South Region Baseball as Player of the Year.^[3] Cruz was named to the 2006 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-South Region Baseball as a First Team Outfielder. Cruz was named to the 2006 First Team All-American Outfielder for the University of Tampa Baseball Team.

Cruz was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association 2005 NCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year.^[4]

Cruz was named to the 2005 First Team All-American Third Baseman for the University of Tampa Baseball Team.

Cruz was named to the 2003 First-Team Suncoast Conference for the Pasco-Hernando State College NJCAA Baseball Team.

Cruz was named 2003 First-Team All State for the Pasco-Hernando State College NJCAA Baseball Team.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information from The Baseball Cube
"Transactions | orioles.com: Team". baltimore.orioles.mlb.com. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
"Lee Cruz Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
"NCAA Division II Player of the Year - ABCA". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
"Honors and Awards | TampaSpartans.com". tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2014-11-03.

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