Keith Ginter

Keith Ginter
Second baseman / Third baseman
Born: (1976-05-05) May 5, 1976 (age 48)
Norwalk, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 20, 2000, for the Houston Astros
Last MLB appearance
September 18, 2005, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average.243
Home runs38
Runs batted in140
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Keith Michael Ginter (born May 5, 1976) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. Ginter is a graduate of Fullerton Union High School in Fullerton, California.

College

Ginter attended and played baseball at Cypress College before transferring to Texas Tech University.[1] During his two years at Texas Tech University, Ginter was a two-time All-American and helped the Red Raiders in NCAA Regional action.[2]

Professional career

Ginter was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 10th Round of the 1998 amateur entry draft and began his professional career playing for the Auburn Doubledays of the New York–Penn League and made his first major league appearance playing for the Astros on September 20, 2000.

In September 2002, Ginter was traded along with Wayne Franklin to Milwaukee Brewers for Mark Loretta and cash. Ginter played for the Brewers until December 2004 when he was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Nelson Cruz and Justin Lehr.[3] During the 2004 season, Ginter had been named National League Player of the Week.[4]

Ginter split the 2005 seasons between Oakland and the team's triple-A affiliate Sacramento River Cats, and spent the entire 2006 season at triple-A.

On January 2, 2007, he was signed by Cleveland Indians to a minor league contract and invited to spring training, but spent the entire 2007 season playing for the Buffalo Bisons.

On December 13, 2007, he was signed by Boston Red Sox to a minor league contract, and attended the team's spring training session but was assigned to the team's minor league camp on March 19, 2008.[5] He became a free agent at the end of the 2008 season and signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox on January 6, 2009. He was released by the White Sox on March 15, 2010.

On April 26, 2010, he was signed by the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League and was their starting third baseman for the 2010 season.

He is not related to Matt Ginter, a pitcher who pitched in the majors from 2000 to 2008.

Spring training incident

In spring training of 2000, Ginter and five teammates from the Houston Astros organization were in a player's hotel room with a female guest when two gunmen burst in, tied them up and robbed them. The gunmen then went to the next room where Aaron Miles wrestled one of them to the ground while the other one fled. The other players involved were Morgan Ensberg, Derrek Nicholson, Mike Rose, and Eric Cole.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ "Cypress College professional baseball players".
  2. ^ "Keith Ginter 11 3B". MLB.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  3. ^ "Seeking second base help, A's land Ginter". ESPN. December 15, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  4. ^ "Brewers IF Ginter named NL Player of the Week". ESPN. October 6, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  5. ^ "MLB Transactions: March 2008". MLB.com. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  6. ^ Mark Feinsand (February 28, 2008). "Life bats first for Morgan Ensberg". Daily News. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  7. ^ "5 Astros robbed in hotel room". The Topeka Capital-Journal. March 13, 2000. Retrieved March 25, 2008.