Corey Patterson

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Corey Patterson bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Corey Patterson : biography

August 13, 1979 –

Donald Corey Patterson (born August 13, 1979) is an American professional baseball outfielder. He is the older brother of outfielder Eric Patterson.

Personal life

He throws right-handed and bats left-handed. His brother Eric was drafted by the Cubs in the 8th round in 2004, and made his major league debut for the Cubs on August 7, 2007. His father, Don Patterson, played in the NFL for two years. .

Amateur career

Patterson attended Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia, and helped Harrison win the Georgia state championship as a senior in 1998. That year, he had a batting average of .528 with 81 runs scored, 22 home runs, 61 RBI and 38 stolen bases in 38 games. Patterson was named to the Baseball America and USA Today first-team All-America teams, and was selected by USA Baseball as its Amateur Player of the Year and as the Baseball Coaches Association’s co-national high school Player of the Year. Patterson was also named a Baseball America second-team selection after his junior season.

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

Patterson was selected by the Chicago Cubs as the third overall pick in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his professional debut in 1999 with the Lansing Lugnuts of the Class-A Midwest League, and was selected as that league’s "Prospect of the Year" after leading the league in slugging percentage (.592), extra base hits (72) and triples (17). He also batted .320 with 20 homers and 79 RBI, and was named to the league’s all-star team both at mid-season and postseason. Baseball America named Patterson the league’s top prospect. After the 1999 season, he played in the Arizona Fall League and was that league’s youngest player. He batted .368 with 4 home runs, 24 RBI, and 8 stolen bases in 35 games, and was named to the league’s all-star team.

In 2000, Patterson was promoted to the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx of the Southern League. He was named to the league’s mid-season and postseason all-star team, and was named the league’s top prospect by Baseball America. Patterson batted .268 with 22 home runs and 82 RBI, finishing second in the league in home runs.

After playing in the 2000 Southern League playoffs, Patterson was called up from the minors to play for the Cubs. He made his major league debut on September 18, 2000, against the Milwaukee Brewers. The next day Patterson recorded his first major league hit, a home run off Juan Acevedo. He finished the 2000 season with seven hits in 42 at bats, and two home runs.

Patterson did not start playing a full season until 2002 when he finished with a .253 batting average. In 2003, he started to become the All-Star the Cubs were looking for, batting .298 with 55 RBI in only 83 games before injuring his knee while running to first on a base hit against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Patterson played 157 games in 2004, with a .266 batting average, 24 home runs, and 72 RBI in 631 at bats. His On base plus slugging of .771, while low, is his best of the six seasons in which he played more than 83 games. He had the lowest range factor (2.18) among all starting major league center fielders in 2004.

In the 2005 season Patterson did not do well statistically. On July 7, he was sent down to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. The demotion came after the Cubs had lost a season-high eight games in a row. Published reports indicated that center fielder Félix Pie, the Cubs’ top prospect, was slated to be called up from Double-A West Tenn in July when Patterson was sent down.

Patterson was back up with the major league team on August 9, after his one-month stint in Triple-A Iowa.

Baltimore Orioles

Patterson was traded by the Cubs to the Orioles on January 9, 2006, for Class-A Minor league players Nate Spears and Carlos Perez. On February 10, 2007 Patterson signed a 1 Year 4.3 Million to avoid arbitration.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2760715 In his first of two years with the Orioles, he batted .276 with 16 home runs and 53 RBI. He also stole 45 bases, which ranked third in the American League. Patterson’s contract was not renewed after the 2007 season.