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Getting To Know Chris Minaker |
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General: Ranked as the No. 41 senior on Baseball America's 2006 list of Top College Prospects in the nation Was listed on the 2006 Wallace Award Watch List for the College Baseball Foundation's honor recognizing the top player in college baseball One of the team's most veteran players who provides invaluable experience A very consistent performer who has had his best year as a senior this season Has some excellent gap power and the ability to hit some home runs but is not expected to be relied upon as a power hitter A tough out who doesn't strikeout much and makes contact to all fields A solid and consistent player on defense who is currently in his third season as the team's starter at shortstop in 2006 An excellent bunter who handles the bat well Has hit in the No. 3 spot in the lineup in 2006.
Cardinal Career: Updated Career Stats Stanford's active career leader in doubles (51, #9 all-time at Stanford) and RBI (138) Has a career batting average of .310 with 18 homers (two grandslams) and 18 stolen bases over 183 games and 160 starts (including the team's last 155 starts at shortstop) Has added 128 runs scored, 48 bases on balls, eight sacrifice flies and 12 sacrifice bunts to go with a .471 slugging percentage and a .355 on-base percentage Fielding at a .965 clip with just 27 errors in 763 defensive chances Has 61 career multiple-hit games, including 40 two-hit contests and 16 with three hits, as well as three four-hit games and two five-hit contests Has also added 38 multiple-RBI contests, including eight games with three RBI, six games with four RBI and a game with five Named First Team All-Pac-10 as a senior and First Team Pac-10 All-Academic honors in each of his final three campaigns, as well as the NCAA Austin Regional Most Outstanding Player as a senior.
As A Senior In 2006: Earned Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Austin Regional after going 9-for-14 (.643) with three doubles, a triple and four RBI, while fielding all 16 of his defensive chances without an error Stanford's lone All-Pac-10 selection and also a First Team Pac-10 All-Academic choice Leads the team in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.362, #7 Pac-10), homers (career-high 11, #5T Pac-10), RBI (career-high 68, #1 Pac-10), stolen bases (5, co-leader), runs scored (46), hits (career-high 91, #1 Pac-10), doubles (20, #4T Pac-10), total bases (career-high 150, #1 Pac-10), slugging percentage (.594, #5 Pac-10), multiple-hit games (26), multiple-RBI contests (19), at bats (254, #1 Pac-10), total plate appearances (273, #8T Pac-10) and triples (3, shares team lead) Has hit safely in 27 of his last 29 games and 49 of 59 contests overall Equaled a career-best for hits and set a new career-high in runs when he was 5-for-5 with six runs scored, a double, a triple and two RBI in the NCAA Austin Regional championship game win over North Carolina State (6/4) Was 2-for-5 with an RBI at Texas (6/3) and 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI versus North Carolina State (6/2) Was 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI at Pacific (5/24) Picked up his 200th career hit with a first inning RBI single at UCLA (5/21) Hit a two-run blast in a 6-2 win at UCLA (5/20) which came one day after he was 3-for-4 versus the Bruins (5/19) Hit a three-run homer to tie the game at 6-6 versus Santa Clara (5/16) in Stanford's eventual 11-7 win Was 3-for-6 with a double, homer and four RBI at Washington (5/13) Posted a red-hot season-best 12-game hit streak (4/18-5/6), getting nine multiple-hit contests and four three-hit games, as well as five multiple-RBI efforts with a trio of three-RBI contests during the run in which he was 25-for-51 (.490) with six doubles, a triple, three homers and 16 RBI Named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the first time in his career on May 9 after hitting .467 (7-15) with three homers, five RBI and a 1.067 slugging percentage from May 2-8 to lead the Cardinal to three wins in four games Had his first career two-homer contest against California (5/5) and then also singled to lead off the ninth and later scored the game-winning run in a 3-2 Cardinal win Had both three hits and three RBI in a pair of games during the streak versus Sacramento State (4/18) and Arizona State (4/26), as well as three hits and two RBI versus Arizona State (4/30) and California (5/5), and two hits and three RBI against San Jose State (5/2) Scored Stanford's only run of the Oregon State series (4/13-16) Had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-1 win over Pacific (4/10) Was 3-for-6 with two doubles, a homer and four RBI at San Jose State (4/8) Posted a torrid 11-game hit streak (.469, 23-49, 2 HR, 18 RBI, 2 SB) from February 19 - March 12 Hit his second career grandslam in a 13-9 win over Texas (2/20) in a game where he was 4-5 with a double, triple, the grandslam and a career-best five RBI Was also 4-for-5 at California (3/3) and then 3-for-5 with four RBI and the game-winning RBI single the following day (3/4) against the Golden Bears Has three hit streaks of 10 or more games in 2006 Has made 156 consecutive starts at shortstop and played every inning of every game at the position in each of the last two campaigns Has made just one error in his last 32 games, starting the stretch with an errorless string of 15 games in a row from April 14 - May 6 and now with a current stretch of 16 straight from May 9 - June 10 Leads the Pac-10 with 213 assists and recorded his 500th career assist versus Texas (6/3).
As A Junior In 2005: Finished the season with a .291 batting average, three homers and 37 RBI, while tying for the Pac-10 lead and ranking second on Stanford's all-time single-season list with 25 doubles Also among Pac-10 leaders in assists (181, #2 Pac-10), at bats (251, #7 Pac-10) and fielding double plays (42, #7T Pac-10), leading Stanford in the first two categories as well as tying for the team lead with 52 runs scored Equaled the team's longest hit streak of the season by hitting safely in the final 13 regular season games (May 7-29), going 19-for-59 (.322) with an amazing 10 doubles during the run Ranked second on the club in stolen bases (10), fourth on the squad in multiple-hit games (21) and tied for fourth in multiple-RBI contests (10) Did not make an error in his first 25 games Started all 59 contests and played every inning at shortstop Named an ESPN The Magazine District VIII Regional Academic All-American and was also a First Team Pac-10 All-Academic selection.
2005 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats6/6 at Baylor (Regional Championship Game) - 2-6, 10 AST ... career-high and team-season high assists 6/5 vs. TCU (Regional) - 2-5, 2 2B, 2 SB ... third-career two-double contest ... career-high-tying stolen bases 5/29 at USC - Final game in 13-game hit streak 5/28 at USC - 3-6, 2 2B, 4 RBI ... career-high-tying RBI ... second career two-double game 5/22 vs. Arizona - 2-5, 2B 5/21 vs. Arizona - 2 RBI ... drove in game-winning run with two outs in bottom of ninth with RBI single in 5-4 victory ... third straight two-RBI game 5/20 vs. Arizona - 2 RBI 5/17 vs. Saint Mary's - 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI 5/15 vs. UCLA - 2-6, 2B, SB 5/10 vs. Santa Clara - Third straight game with a double 5/7 at California - Begins 13-game hit streak 5/3 at Nevada - 2-5, HR, 3 RBI 5/2 at UC Davis - 2-4, 2B 4/24 vs. Washington - 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI 4/23 vs. Washington - 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI 4/17 at Arizona State - 2-4, 2B 4/12 vs. San Francisco - 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI 4/9 vs. Oregon State (Game 2) - 2-4 4/9 vs. Oregon State (Game 1) - 2-5, HR, 2 RBI 4/5 vs. Santa Clara - 3 BB ... career-high walks 4/1 at Washington State - 2-7, SB, RBI 3/6 vs. California (Game 1) - 2-5, RBI 2/27 vs. USC - 2-5, 2B ... third straight game with at least one double 2/26 vs. USC - 2B, 2 RBI 2/25 vs. USC - 4-4, 2 2B, RBI ... first career two-double game 2/6 at Cal State Fullerton - 2-6, HR, RBI 1/30 vs. Fresno State (Game 2) - 2 SB ... career-high-tying stolen bases 1/30 vs. Fresno State (Game 1) - 2-4, RBI, 3 runs 1/29 vs. Fresno State - 5-5, 2B, RBI, 4 runs ... career-high hits and runs scored
As A Sophomore In 2004: Hit .270 with four homers, 33 RBI and three stolen bases Added 28 runs scored, 47 hits, a .360 slugging percentage, 13 walks and a .312 on-base percentage Made his first collegiate start at shortstop versus Cal Poly on March 28 and started the team's final 38 games at the position, finishing the season with 48 games played and 43 starts Posted a season-high six-game hit streak from May 1-9, going 9-for-27 (.333) with a double, a homer, a stolen base and five RBI Made just seven errors in 183 defensive chances for a .962 fielding percentage Did not make an error in his first 14 games and nine starts Named First Team Pac-10 All-Academic.
| 2004 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats 6/5 vs. St. John's (Regional) - HR, 2 RBI 6/5 vs. Long Beach State (Regional) - 3-4, 2B, RBI 5/29 vs. Arizona State - 2-4, HR, 2 RBI 5/28 vs. Arizona State - 2-4 5/17 at Arizona - 2-5, RBI 5/16 at Arizona - 3 runs ... season-high runs scored 5/8 at Washington - 3-5, RBI ... season-high-tying hits 5/2 vs. Washington State - 2-5, 2B 5/1 vs. Washington State - HR, 4 RBI ... career-high-tying RBI 4/20 vs. Saint Mary's - 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI ... season-high-tying hits 4/17 vs. California - 3-4, 2B ... season-high-tying hits 4/16 vs. California - 2 RBI 4/8 at Oregon State - 2-5, RBI 4/3 at UCLA - 2-5 4/2 at UCLA - 2-5, HR, 4 RBI ... first career home run and grandslam ... career-high-tying RBI 3/30 at San Jose State - 2 RBI, SB 3/28 vs. Cal Poly - First collegiate start at shortstop 2/29 at California - 2-4 |
As A Freshman In 2003: Hit .167 with three sacrifice bunts in 18 games (all off the bench).
| 2003 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats 6/18 vs. Cal State Fullerton (CWS) - Executed successful sacrifice bunt as pinch-hitter 6/1 vs. Richmond (Regional) - Singled in top of the ninth in postseason debut 5/18 vs. UCLA - Played final two innings at shortstop in Stanford's 9-8, 10-inning victory that clinched Pac-10 title 4/26 vs. Arizona - Pinch-hit sacrifice bunt set up Sam Fuld's game-winning two-RBI double in the eighth inning of a 10-9 comeback win 3/9 vs. California - First collegiate hit 2/7 vs. Florida State - Made his collegiate debut with successful sacrifice bunt |
High School: A 2002 graduate of Edmonds-Woodway High School and a member of the school's Hall of Fame A three-year letterwinner in both baseball and tennis Named the 2002 Player of the Year by the Everett Herald Set school records in batting average (.509), hits (54), stolen bases (19) and doubles (15) in his 2002 senior campaign Batted .419 and .406 in his sophomore and junior years, respectively Earned 2002 First Team All-State honors as an infielder Three-time First Team All-Wesco League infielder (2000, '01, '02) and 2002 First Team All-Area shortstop Selected 2001 First Team All-Wesco League in tennis and finished ninth in the state doubles tournament Named a 2002 Edmonds School District Scholar-Athlete Coached in baseball by Joe Webster.
Other Amateur Baseball: Played his 2005 summer baseball with the Waikiki Surfers in the inaugural season of the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League Had a terrific summer in 2004 with the Kenai Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League, hitting .311 and ranking third on the club with 42 hits, while adding seven doubles, three homers, 23 RBI and four stolen bases over 36 games and 35 starts to lead the Oilers to a 27-18 overall mark and a 21-14 record in the ABL Spent the early portion of the 2003 summer season playing with Great Lakes Summer League champion Northern Ohio before returning home early due to an injury Played for Chaffey Baseball during the summers from 1999-2002.
MLB First-Year Player Draft: Selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 10th round (291st overall) of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Getting To Know Chris Minaker
Has already completed a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with honors and is currently working to complete a Master's degree in Sociology as well
Nickname: Miny Campus Activities Other Than Baseball: Cardinal Life The reason I love baseball is: There is always another day I pattern my game after: Khalil Greene Favorite Ballpark: Rosenblatt Stadium Favorite Pro Sports Team: Seattle Mariners Toughest Pitcher Faced:Washington's Tim Lincecum
The best book I have read is:The Bible
I would like to be remembered at Stanford for: Being a hard-working and positive guy Best Advice Received:If you think you can or think you can't, you're right
Advice To Youngsters: Work hard both on the field and in the classroom, because hard work can make an average player a good player and a good player a great player Earliest Baseball Memory: Playing catch with his dad in the backyard Did You Know:Chris was a serious hockey player as a youth
Last Updated: June 11, 2006