Athletes - Kelly Shoppach

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	Athletes - Kelly Shoppach

Kelly Brian Shoppach (born April 29, 1980 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a Major League Baseball catcher who plays in the Cleveland Indians organization. Shoppach was traded to the Indians from the Boston Red Sox organization on January 28, 2006, as part of the same deal that saw outfielder Coco Crisp sent to Boston and highly regarded prospect Andy Marte sent to Cleveland.

Shoppach was considered to be one of the better positional prospects in the Red Sox organization before the trade. Shoppach is a top-line defensive catcher with a strong arm and reliable glove. He hits the ball to all fields, has excellent power for a catcher, and draws a significant number of walks.

Shoppach was hitting .275 (33-for-120) with 10 home runs and 22 RBI when he got the call.

School career

Shoppach played three seasons at Baylor University, hitting .333 (168-for-505) with 26 home runs and 121 RBI. He recorded a .993 career fielding percentage, with seven errors in 953 total chances.

As a junior in 2001, Shoppach received the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top collegiate catcher after hitting .397 with 12 home runs and 61 RBI in 69 games in his final college season. He also posted a .998 fielding percentage with only one error in 406 chances.

In addition to being selected "Big 12 Player of the Year", Shoppach was named First Team All-America in 2001 by Baseball America, Baseball Weekly, Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Minor League Career

In 2004, Shoppach appeared in a career-best 101 games behind the plate for Pawtucket and threw out 35 of 101 potential base stealers (35 percent) on his way to a spot on the International League's end-of-season All-Star Team. He also set a single-season home run record for PawSox catchers with 21 and also hit one as a designated hitter. His 22 homers matched his previous career total over two years and 208 games. Shoppach added career bests with 62 runs scored and a .461 slugging percentage.47 of his 93 hits (51 percent) went for extra bases.

Major League Career

On May 26, 2005, Shoppach was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket. He bats and throws right-handed.

Trade

On January 27, 2006, Shoppach was traded from the Red Sox to the Cleveland Indians, along with prospect Andy Marte, pitcher Guillermo Mota, a player to be named later, and cash consideratrions. The Indians in turn sent outfielder Coco Crisp, catcher Josh Bard, and pitcher David Riske.

Awards

Portland Sea Dogs player of the year (2003)
International League All-Star (2004)
Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Month (April 2005)
2005 Pawtucket Red Sox Player of the Year

Trivia

During the 2005 season, Shoppach was almost involved in a trade that would have sent him to the Colorado Rockies for outfielder Larry Bigbie
. However, at the last moment, the Red Sox backed out of the deal.
Shoppach's favorite TV show is Survivor
His favorite movie is Crimson Tide
His favorite celebrity is Ed Harris
He enjoys going to the movies
He is classicaly trained in the clarinet
His favorite pro team is the New England Patriots
His favorite athlete is Drew Bledsoe
He enjoys Chocolate Glazed Donuts
He was onced thrown out of a Papa Ginos for refilling his own cup. Papa Ginos has a strict no refill policy.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Kelly Shoppach ]

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