April 23, 2007
Baltimore, Md. - Danny Putnam became the 76th former Stanford Baseball player to reach the Major Leagues when he made his big league debut with the Oakland Athletics on Monday. Putnam started the game in right field and singled in his second at bat before finishing 1-for-4 while also making two highlight reel catches as Oakland defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5.
Putnam arrived in Baltimore early in the day on Monday after hopping on a flight out of Texas at 7 am, CT, where he had been playing with Double A Midland.
Putnam, the sixth former Stanford player to see Major League Baseball action during the 2007 season, was at Stanford for three seasons from 2002-04. During his Stanford tenure, he helped lead the Cardinal to a pair of appearances in the College World Series finals and three Pac-10 titles. He was a First Team All-American as a junior in 2004 and a two-time All-Pac-10 selection (2003, '04). Putnam had huge seasons at Stanford both as a sophomore in 2003 (.348, 16 HR, 66 RBI) and as a junior in 2004 (.378, 16 HR, 62 RBI).
Putnam finished his three-year collegiate career with a .345 batting average, 33 homers and 138 RBI.
He will also forever be etched into the hearts and memories of Stanford Baseball fans after providing one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the program with his two-run homer against Cal State Fullerton in the top of the 10th inning of a CWS bracket final. The homer lifted the Cardinal to a 7-5 victory over the Titans and into the inaugural CWS Championship Series against Rice.
Putnam was the 36th selection overall in the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft as a Compensation A pick of the Oakland Athletics.