Travis George Buck (born November 18, 1983 in Richland, Washington) is a professional baseball outfielder in the Oakland Athletics organization. He is currently on the Athletics' AAA club, the Sacramento River Cats. He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 23rd round (700th overall) in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft. He did not sign with the Mariners and elected to attend Arizona State University. He would later be drafted by the Athletics as the 36th overall selection of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.
College career
Buck played college baseball for Arizona State University from 2003-2005. He is #8 in the ASU all-time hits category with 272, and his 110 hits in 2005 are the ninth-most in Sun Devils history. In 2004 and 2005 he was selected as a Pac-10 Conference All-Star outfielder, and in 2004 he was a gold medal winner with the USA Baseball National Team.[1]
Professional career
In 2006, Buck split time between high A (the Stockton Ports) and AA (the Midland RockHounds). He finished the year hitting .302 for Midland with four home runs in 212 at-bats. He was selected as an outfielder for the United States in the All-Star Futures Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.[2]
Prior to 2007, Buck was rated as the top prospect in the Oakland organization[3] and the #50 prospect in Major League Baseball[4] by Baseball America. He was in the Opening Day lineup for Oakland due to an injury to first baseman Dan Johnson, which prompted manager Bob Geren to shift Nick Swisher to first base and tab Buck as the starting right fielder.[5] Buck went 1-3 in the game, with his first major league hit being a double off Mariners starting pitcher Félix Hernández.
Buck was the opening day Right Fielder for the Athletics in 2008, however Buck has struggled mightily, batting only .160 as of June 12th, and has been optioned to the AAA Sacramento River Cats.
Miscellaneous facts
Travis Buck comes out to the song King of Kings by Motörhead for his at bats at Athletics home games.
References
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