Gabe Gross #26

Gabriel Jordan Gross...resides in Auburn, AL with wife Kelly...played baseball and football at Northview High School (Dothan, AL)...his baseball jersey is the only one that the school has retired...attended Auburn University where he played baseball and football (quarterback)...started 6 games for the Tigers in 1998 as a true freshman for coach Terry Bowden, passing for 1,222 yards and 7 touchdowns...left the football program the following season to concentrate on baseball...his father, Lee Gross, was an all-SEC center at Auburn and played in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints (1975-77) and Baltimore Colts (1979)...his brother, Bo Gross, played football at TCU.

2010

Spent the entire season with Oakland, hitting .239 (53x222) with one home run and 25 RBI in 105 games...made 54 starts, including 21 in left field, 21 in right field, 10 in center field and two at designated hitter...saw significant action as a late inning defensive replacement...led A's outfielders with 6 assists...45 of his 54 starts came against righthanded pitchers...was batting .309 over his first 37 games through June 3, then hit .188 over his final 68 contests...was 4-for-7 (.571) with 7 RBI with the bases loaded and is a .486 (17x35) career hitter with 2 grand slams and 45 RBI with the bases full...went 4-for- 11 (.364) with 2 walks and 4 RBI as a pinch hitter...hit .340 against American League West competition, .207 against everyone else...was on his 6th consecutive Opening Day roster, his first with the A's...had a career-best streak of 4 straight multiple hit games from May 31-June 3 (9x16/.563).

2009

Started 71 games (67 in right field, four at designated hitter)...the Rays were 41-26 when he started in right...platooned with Gabe Kapler in right for much of the season...went his last 69 at bats of the season without a home run after hitting a two-run homer off Baltimore's Jason Berken in the Rays 5-4 win on Aug. 18...that home run was his only one against the American League East...batted .195 in 51 games against the AL East...had only three starts vs. lefthanders...batted .172 (5 for 29) against lefties and has .152 (23 for 151) career average vs. southpaws...batted .233 (59 for 253) vs. righties giving him a .251 (273 for 1088) career mark...starting Aug. 26 was 4 for 48 (.083) with no home runs and two RBI...finished the season on a career long 0 for 18 slide...batted .333 in June, but .200 the rest of the season...was 2 for 27 (.074) as a pinch-hitter...among the 57 players with 20 or more pinch-hit at bats in 2009, only the Mets Gary Sheffield had a lower average (1 for 24, .042)...was the Rays seventh Opening Day right fielder in the last seven seasons following Ben Grieve, Jose Cruz, Jr., Aubrey Huff, Damon Hollins, Delmon Young and Eric Hinske...had three three-hit games, tying his career high... two were against the Marlins...May 22 at Florida he went 3 for 5 with a home run, double and four RBI...the homer came off Renyel Pinto, his only four-bagger off a lefty...had three hits and career-high two steals vs. Los Angeles (AL) June 11...on July 19, he had a run-scoring double in the seventh and a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to push across the winning run in the Rays 4-3 win at Kansas City... Rays had trailed 3-0.

2008

Began the year with the Milwaukee Brewers, but an April 22 trade brought him to the Rays... ended up starting the majority of the games in right field for the Rays (75 of 141) after his acquisition, and made four starts in center...played in 127 of 141 games overall after his arrival, appearing frequently as a defensive replacement in right field...saw time at all three outfield positions...hit a career-high 13 home runs...his three walk-off RBI tied Fred McGriff's club single season record, set in 2000...was responsible for 3 of the Rays 11 "walk-off" wins on the season: May 13 vs. New York-AL (single off Mariano Rivera), June 1 vs. Chicago-AL (home run off Matt Thornton) and June 21 vs. Houston (double off Doug Brocail)...the game-ending blast off Thornton was his first career homer off a lefty, and up to that point had struck out in 9 of his 12 at bats against left-handed pitching for the year...14 of his 38 RBI for the Rays either tied the game or gave them the lead...his 11th-inning single off the Yankees Rivera May 13 was his first career game-ending hit...his game-winning hit June 21 vs. Houston was a pinch-hit, bases-loaded double in the ninth inning that landed inches inside the left field line...turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win...after joining the Rays, he hit .256 against right-handed pitching, compared to .191 against lefties...11 of his 13 home runs came against right-handers...all of his 43 at-bats with Milwaukee came against right-handers...hit .303 with seven home runs, 24 RBI, a .387 on-base percentage and .568 slugging percentage at Tropicana Field...after joining the Rays, hit 100 points better at the Trop than his .198 road average...over the entire season, his .938 on-base plus slugging (OPS) at home was more than 300 points better than his .599 OPS on the road...batted .267 with six home runs and 17 RBI from Aug. 1 through the end of the season to raise his average from .215 to .238...hit .293 in August with four home runs and 11 RBI after hitting .080 in July...hit a 437-foot, two-run homer in the ninth off Cleveland's Edward Mujica Aug. 6 vs. Cleveland to tie the game, 7-7...the Rays went on to win 10-7 on Carlos Peña's three-run blast later that inning...belted his first home run as a Ray May 3 at Boston off Josh Beckett, trimming the Rays deficit to 3-2...hit .209 in 16 games for the Brewers, playing all three outfield positions, but starting in center field for 13 of their first 20 games...appeared in 10 games, including seven starts, for the Rays during the postseason and all his appearances came in right field...hit just .053 (1 for 19) and went 0-for-16 after singling off Clayton Richard in Game 1 of the ALDS against Chicago...his only two RBI of the postseason came in Game 3 of the World Series, despite going 0-for-3 (sac fly; groundout RBI).

2007

Appeared in 93 games, 46 starts (39 in right field, three in center field, three at designated hitter, one in left field) during a pair of stints with the Brewers...made the Opening Day roster and batted .202 with four home runs and nine RBI in 55 games before he was optioned to Triple-A Nashville July 21... batted .355 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 20 games at Nashville and was recalled Aug. 15...batted .266 with three home runs and 15 RBI in 38 games the rest of the season...recorded his first career two-homer game in a 3-2 victory, May 17 at Philadelphia...belted his second career grand slam, Aug. 21 at Arizona off Tony Peña.

2006

Appeared in 117 games, 47 starts (29 in center field, 15 in left field, three in right field) for the Brewers...batted .310 over his last 58 games...hit .294 against right-handed pitchers and .095 against lefties...left the game Aug. 29 at Houston with a strained left hamstring...made just seven appearances the rest of the season, all as a pinch-hitter...was 12 for 51 (.235) with three home runs, 13 RBI and eight walks in the pinch...belted pinch-hit homers April 4 vs. Pittsburgh, April 17 at Houston and April 18 at Houston...on April 4 vs. Pittsburgh, in his first at-bat as a Brewer, connected for a pinch-hit, 2-run homer off Ryan Vogelsong...became the fifth player in franchise history to homer in his first at-bat with the club...on April 16 at New York (NL), batted leadoff for the first time in his career (batted leadoff 12 times in 2006)...recorded his first career leadoff home run April 21 vs. Cincinnati off Bronson Arroyo.

2005

Spent most of the season at Triple-A Syracuse...was twice named Blue Jays Minor League Star of the Month, earning honors in both July and August...batted .250 with one home run and seven RBI in 40 games with the Blue Jays during four separate stints with the team...began the season with the Blue Jays after matching a club record (Carlos Delgado, 2001) with eight homers during spring training...was the starting right fielder on Opening Day at Tampa Bay (0 for 3)...was traded to Milwaukee on Dec 7.

2004

Entered the season as the fourth-best prospect in the Blue Jays organization according to Baseball America...spent most of the season at Triple-A Syracuse...was recalled by the Blue Jays Aug. 6 and remained with the team through the end of the season...appeared in 44 games, 38 starts for the Jays (33 in left field, five at designated hitter)...made his major league debut Aug. 7 at New York (AL), starting in left field, and went 1 for 3 with a walk...recorded a single off Orlando Hernandez in his first at bat... hit his first major league homer Aug. 9 at New York (AL), a two-run shot off Esteban Loaiza...produced a career-high 5 RBI Sept. 5 vs. Oakland and belted his first career grand slam off Justin Duchscherer.

2003

Batted a combined .299 with 12 home runs and 74 RBI in 137 games between Double-A New Haven and Triple-A Syracuse.

2002

Entered the season as the second-best prospect in the Blue Jays organization according to Baseball America...spent the entire season at Double-A Tennessee...was on the disabled list from Aug. 5-21 with a hairline fracture in his right ankle...following the season, played for the Grand Canyon Rafters of the Arizona Fall League.

2001

Batted a combined .287 with seven home runs and 26 RBI in 46 games between Single-A Dunedin and Double-A Tennessee during his first professional season...following the season played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.