Brian Giles

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Brian Giles bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Brian Giles : biography

January 20, 1971 –

Brian Stephen Giles (pronounced JYLES) (born January 20, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. During his career he played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres. The left-handed Giles was a two-time All-Star and had a career line of .291/.400/.502 with 287 home runs, 411 doubles, 1,078 run batted in (RBIs), and 1,183 walks in 1,847 games.

His younger brother, Marcus Giles, is a former Major League infielder who most recently played in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Giles was born in El Cajon, California, and attended Granite Hills High School. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 17th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft. By 1994, Giles had worked his way up to Triple-A, where he batted .313 for Charlotte making the International League All-Star team. In 1995, Giles was again in Triple-A, where he batted .310 for Buffalo and made his major league debut as a September callup on September 16. He was also an American Association All-Star. Giles hit .355 in 51 games for the Indians in 1996 and hit .314 in 83 games with Buffalo, again making the American Association All-Star team. In 1997, Giles established himself as a major league regular, playing 130 games for the Indians and 112 games in 1998.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On November 18, 1998, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Ricardo Rincón.

In 1999 with the Pirates, Giles emerged as a power-hitting outfielder who also hit for average and showed plate discipline. He began a streak of hitting at least 35 home runs for four straight seasons, during which he batted no lower than .298 and was named Pittsburgh Pirates Player of the Year each year.

Giles led 2000 club in doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs and walks. His 123 RBIs were eight shy of Paul Waner’s club record of 131 set in 1927. He became the first Pirate ever to hit at least .300 with 30 plus home runs and 100 plus RBIs in back-to-back seasons, he became the third player in club history with 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks in same season, Barry Bonds in 1992 and Ralph Kiner from 1948–51. His 114 walks were the most by a Pirate since 1992, Bonds with 127. Giles’ 74 home runs in two seasons with club represent the most in back-to-back seasons since Willie Stargell hit 77 in 1972–73. He was named National League Player-of-the-Week after hitting .400 with two doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs between May 2 and May 7 and shared player of the week honors with Colorado’s Todd Helton after hitting .523 with three doubles, one triple, three home runs, eight RBIs and six runs scored between August 12 and August 20. Giles was named to All-Star team for first time in career. He finished ninth in voting among National League outfielders.

In 2001 Giles established career highs in games played, at bats, runs and hits. He tied career highs in doubles, triples and stolen bases. At the end of the season he ranked tenth among N.L. players in runs, on-base percentage, .404, and slugging percentage, .590. He led the Pirates in batting, home runs and walks. He tied Dave Parker’s club record for most total bases, 340, by a left-handed hitter. Giles hit his 100th career home run as a member of the Pirates on August 9, he is one of 17 players to homer 100 times as a Pirate. He was selected to play in the All- Star Game for the second consecutive year.

Giles ranked second in the league in walks behind San Francisco’s Barry Bonds led with 198 in 2002. He also established the club record for most base on balls in a season by a left-handed batter. His .450 on-base percentage tied him for the second-best mark in the majors, he also ranked second in the league in slugging percentage with .622, sixth in home runs, second with 80 extra-base hits ranked second behind San Francisco’s Jeff Kent, tied for second in the league with 13 outfield assists and also finished third in the N.L. with 24 intentional walks. He homered once every 13.1 at bats, the third-best ratio in the league behind Bonds’ 8.8 and Sammy Sosa’s 11.3.