Athletes - Khalil Greene

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	Athletes - Khalil Greene

Khalil Thabit Greene (born October 21, 1979 in Butler, Pennsylvania) is a Major League Baseball shortstop who plays for the San Diego Padres. He bats and throws right-handed and is an adherent of the Bahá'í Faith. Greene says his faith has helped his athletic performance.

Greene went to school at Key West High in Key West, Florida, also alma mater of former MLB first baseman Boog Powell. He set school records for career runs and hits in a season. He was not drafted out of high school, and began Clemson University in 1999.

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Greene played all 69 games at third base for the Tigers in his freshman season, all but one of them starts. His first collegiate home run, one of the inside-the-park variety, came at the UNLV/Coors Desert Classic on February 27. In his freshman year, Greene had 98 hits, setting the record for Clemson freshmen. He led the team in hits, multi-hit games (31), at-bats (274), and hit-by-pitches (11). His average for the season was .358. Greene was a unanimous selection to the All-Regional Team in the postseason.

In his sophomore season, Greene started every one of the team's 69 games at third base. He led the team in batting average with runners in scoring position with .444. He was an All-ACC second team selection. (The first team selection was Georgia Tech's Mark Teixeira.) He was selected to the All-ACC Tournament team.

Greene again started every game for the Clemson Tigers in his junior season, but this time he and erstwhile shortstop Jeff Baker switched positions. He set the school record in season fielding percentage at that position (.965), while also setting every hit-by-pitch record for the school (in an inning, 2; in a game, 3; in a season, 21; in a career, 47). He also led the team in doubles with 18. He was named the ACC Player of the Week during the last week of the season. Peter Gammons made a prediction in his 2001 pre-draft column on ESPN.com: "You won't find Clemson shortstop/third baseman Khalil Greene or Wake Forest center fielder Cory Sullivan on any top-100 list, but check back in five years from now and see if they aren't remarkably like Jeff Cirillo and Steve Finley. Greene and Sullivan are players." Greene was drafted with the second pick of the fourteenth round (409th overall) by the Chicago Cubs, but returned to Clemson the next year.

Greene's senior season was his most impressive. Collegiate Baseball named him National Player of the Year. The publication, along with Baseball America, selected him as a member of their All-America first teams. Baseball America also chose Greene for their National Midseason Player of the Year. He was the ACC's Player of the Year and was named to the All-ACC first team. Greene was named winner of the Rotary Smith Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, and the Golden Spikes Award at the end of the season. He hit an amazing .480 average with 26 home runs and 86 doubles with a .557 on-base percentage and .888 slugging percentage (for an OPS of 1.445). He broke his own fielding record with a .967 mark. In only one of the team's 67 games did he not reach base via walk or hit. His last at-bat in Clemson's Doug Kingsmore Stadium was, fittingly, a home run.

After Greene finished the 2002 season, having graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology, he held school single-season records for total bases, extra-base hits, home runs, RBI, consecutive multi-hit games, and consecutive games with a home run. He holds career school records in total bases and RBI. He holds the ACC single season record for batting average and the ACC career records for doubles and hits. Greene also holds the NCAA record for doubles in a career. On June 22, 2002, Greene received a special resolution from the South Carolina General Assembly. He'd started 269 consecutive games. Greene was taken by the Padres with the thirteenth pick of the 2002 draft.

Professional career

After finishing his college career and being drafted by the Padres, Khalil Greene reported to Single-A Eugene Emeralds where he played only ten games. He batted .270 with no home runs and six RBI. He was then called up to the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League where he finished the season. In 46 games he hit nine home runs with 32 RBI while batting .317.

In 2003, Greene started the season with the Double-A Mobile BayBears. In 59 games he had a batting average of .275. He was then called up to the Triple-A Portland Beavers. In 76 games, Greene batted .288 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI. He then saw his first major league action on September 3, 2003, where he came into the game as a pinch-hitter for Brian Lawrence in the seventh inning and flied out against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He got his first start two days later against the Houston Astros, but went 0-for-4. His first hit came the next day; it was a single sharply hit up the middle against Ron Villone. His first home run led off the 8th inning of the September 16th game against Jerome Williams of the San Francisco Giants. He finished the year with an average of .215 with two home runs and six RBI in twenty games.

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Athletes - Khalil Greene

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