Chris Duffy #6

Christopher Ellis Duffy... Married, wife's name is Kristin; one daughter, Kaylin (6/1/09)... 1998 graduate of Mountain Ridge High School (AZ) where he played baseball, basketball and football... Attended South Mountain Community College (AZ; 1999-2000) and Arizona State University (2001)... Signed by: Ted Williams.

2009

Was a non-roster invitee to MIL spring training...Made MIL's Opening Day roster after batting .311 (23-74) with 13 RBI in 28 spring training games...Appeared in 19 games for MIL and made 5 starts (3 in CF, 1 in LF and 1 in RF)...Was designated for assignment on 5/22; cleared waivers on 5/26 and was outrighted to Nashville (AAA)...Placed on the temporary inactive list on 6/1 for the remainder of the season.

2008

Split season between Indianapolis (AAA) and Altoona (AA)...Missed majority of the season recovering from left shoulder surgery...Hit .423 (11-26) against LHP between both clubs...Played for Mazatlan in Mexican Pacific League following the season.

2007

Made a total of 68 appearances (58 starts) in center field for Pittsburgh, but did not play with the Pirates after 6/28 due to an ankle injury...Established career highs in home runs and walks...Had a pair of assists on Opening Day on 4/2 at Houston...Went 7-for-26 (.269) while hitting safely in his first six games...Committed lone error on 4/6 before going 64 consecutive games without a miscue...Tripled and had first of five three-hit games on 4/11 vs. St. Louis...Took San Francisco's Russ Ortiz deep for first home run on 4/13...Went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases on 4/22 at Los Angeles (NL)...Snapped 0-for-17 streak with a home run off Ben Sheets on 5/6 at Milwaukee...Snapped an 0-for-14 slide after going 2-for-4 with a triple on 5/23 at St. Louis; also batted second in that game...Hit .319 (15-for-57) with five doubles, two triples, four RBI and six runs scored while appearing in the second spot of the lineup from 5/23 thru 6/3...Hit first career inside-the-park home run on 6/8 at Yankee Stadium...Made last start with Bucs on 6/27 at Florida and injured left ankle while running after a ball in center field...Was placed on disabled list on 6/30 (retro to 6/29) with a sprained left ankle...Began rehab assignment on 8/17 vs. GCL Pirates; served as the club's designated hitter that day and went 2-for-3 at the plate...Went 4-for-13 (.308) with a double and an RBI in four games on rehab...Had an MRI performed on left shoulder on 8/22...Had surgery on shoulder by Dr. Lewis Yocum in California on 8/31.

2006

Suffered a concussion during spring training after being hit in the head by a Curt Schilling pitch on 3/11. ...Was Pittsburgh's Opening Day starter in center field - his first Opening Day appearance in the majors...Went 1-for-13 in his first four games before hitting safely in six straight games (7-for-28) from 4/8-13...Reached base safely in 16 consecutive starts from 4/6 thru 4/29...Snapped an 0-for-14 streak with a leadoff single on 4/26 at St. Louis...Hit safely in six straight games from 4/26 thru 5/4...Made just one start between 5/5-14 and went 8-for-44 (.182) in 17 games from 4/19 thru 5/14...Was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on 5/14...Was placed on the Restricted List on 5/18 for failure to report to Triple-A...Was reinstated from Restricted List on 6/14 and reported to Bradenton, FL, to regain proper playing condition...Was assigned to Indianapolis on 7/2...Hit safely in each of his first seven games with the Indians (11-for-29, .379)...Hit first of two home runs on 7/17 vs. Norfolk...Produced 11-game hitting streak from 7/17-27, going 20-for-45 (.444) with five doubles, two homers and 12 RBI...Smacked second home run on 7/23 at Richmond...Had four-hit game on 7/24 at Richmond...Hit safely in 23 of his 26 games at the Triple-A level and reached base safely in 24 of 26...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 8/1...Went 3-for-32 (.094) in his first eight games upon return to the majors, dropping batting average to .169 on 8/9...Batted in the eighth spot of the lineup for two games (8/9 & 8/11) and went 2-for-6 with a double...Produced four straight multi-hit games during five-game hitting streak from 8/11-15 (10-for-19, .526)...Had season-high three RBI on 8/13 vs. St. Louis...Was successful in each of his first 14 stolen base attempts before being caught by Yadier Molina in St. Louis on 9/2...Went 4-for-4 and had first career two-homer game on 9/7 at Chicago; connected off Sean Marshall for first career leadoff home run and broke a 5-5 tie leading off the 9th inning in 7-5 win (only one other player during the expansion era - since 1969 - hit tie-breaking homers leading off both the first and the last inning of the same game: Reed Johnson of the Blue Jays in 2003, also against the Cubs)...Had career-high 11-game hitting streak from 9/6-17, going 19-for-41 (.463) with 10 runs scored...Batted .315 in his last 45 games after average reached .169 on 8/9...His 88 point increase in batting average from the first half (.194) to the second half (.282) was the fourth-highest in the majors behind Rondell White (.182 to .321), Abraham Nunez (.136 to .247) and Richie Sexson (.218 to .322)...Hit .339 (41-for-121) in his last 30 games, beginning on 8/28...Had the best stolen base percentage among all major league players with a minimum of 25 attempts; went 26-for-27 (.962) and was successful in each of his last 12 attempts...Had a team-high tying 16 infield hits...Recorded four assists and committed three errors.

2005

Hit .339 (19-for-56) with a triple, home run and 13 RBI in 25 spring training games during first big league camp...Was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on 4/1, but did not open the season with the Indians...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 4/7 and made major league debut that night @San Diego (struck out against San Diego's Antonio Otsuka in pinch hit appearance)...Was the only rookie on Pirates roster at the time of his recall...Snapped 0-for-3 start with a double off Chicago's Chad Fox @PNC Park for first career hit and RBI on 4/15...Was optioned to Indianapolis on 4/21 and homered in first game upon return to Triple-A on 4/25 @Richmond (game one)...Was hitting .156 (5-for-32) following the action on 5/1...Hit safely in 18 of his 21 games from 5/6-27 (28-for-86, .326) to raise average from .200 to .286...Went deep twice in four-game span from 5/18-22...Batted .441 (15-for-34) during an eight game hitting streak from 5/31 thru 6/7...Reached base safely in 24 straight games from 5/31 thru 6/25...Had five straight multi-hit games from 6/28 thru 7/3...Went 3-for-5 with a single, double, triple and four RBI on 7/2 vs. Louisville...Hit .340 (17-for-50) in final 12 games of July with Indianapolis...Went 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBI on 7/14 @Charlotte...Was recalled by Pittsburgh for a second time on 7/17 after Craig Wilson was placed on the 15-day disabled list...Made first career start in center field on 7/18 vs. Houston and had two hits in five at bats...Made six straight starts in center field and as the leadoff hitter from 7/18-22 and went 9-for-28 (.321) with four runs scored during career-high six-game hitting streak...Appeared in the second spot of the starting lineup on 7/26 @Florida and had first career four hit game while also swiping two bases...Hit safely in 16 of his 17 starts from 7/18 thru 8/6...His .364 batting average in July was tied for first with Oakland's Dan Johnson among all major league rookies with a minimum of 50 plate appearances...Had second six-game hitting streak from 7/30 thru 8/4 (11-for-26, .423)...Connected off Atlanta's Tim Hudson @Turner Field on 8/1 for first major league home run...Had second career four-hit game on 8/6 vs. Los Angeles...Missed six games in early August due to dehydration and a strained hamstring...Returned to starting lineup on 8/14 @Houston and went hitless in four at bats...Had lone assist with Pirates in his final game on 8/25 vs. St. Louis...Was placed on 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring on 8/28 (retroactive to 8/26)...Ranked second among all rookies behind teammate Ryan Doumit (.425) with a .403 on-base percentage during the month of August...Had 13 infield hits, including three bunt hits...Made a total of 27 starts in center field for the Pirates and committed just one error; a throwing miscue in his first start on 7/18 vs. Houston...Also made one appearance in right field (4/12 @Milwaukee)...Hit .330 (30-for-91) with 16 runs scored in his 21 games as the leadoff hitter...Went 12-for-21 (.571) in five starts from the second spot of the lineup.

2004

Spent second consecutive full season with Altoona (AA) and was named the team's Most Valuable Player...Finished fourth in the Eastern League in stolen bases, seventh in batting and tied for seventh in hits (140)...Was named the league's "Best Defensive Outfielder" by Baseball America (poll was conducted by league managers)...Finished the season as the Curve's career leader in stolen bases (64)...Batted .317 and hit all eight of his home runs off right-handed pitchers...Hit .351 (53-for-151) with runners on base and .361 (30-for-83) with runners in scoring position...Made all 113 defensive appearances in center field and was the team's leadoff batter...Began season with a 9-for-16 (.563) streak, but posted just five hits in his next 37 at bats (.135)...Tied a Curve franchise record by scoring four times in Altoona's 6-5 win vs. Binghamton on 5/4...Led off with a home run and fell just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle on 5/27 vs. Reading...Homered twice and tallied five RBI in 13-2 win @Akron on 6/5; marked his second career multi-HR game (also with Lynchburg on 6/24/02 @Kinston) and established career high with the five RBI...Scored 20 runs during a 13-game stretch from 6/4-17...Posted back-to-back three-hit games on 6/30 @Reading and 7/1 vs. Harrisburg...Selected to participate in the Eastern League All-Star Game on 7/14 @Bowie and went 1-for-4 with a run scored as the starting center fielder for the Southern Division squad...Hit safely in a season-high 15 straight games from 7/11-29, going 28-for-69 (.406) with 11 multi-hit games during the streak...Led league with a .372 (42-for-113) average from 7/7 thru the end of the season...Batted .358 (39-for-109) during the month of July...Reached base safely in 22 straight games before having that string snapped on 8/16 @Harrisburg...Missed 31 of the club's 35 games from 8/5 to 9/4 with a sore right wrist...Hit .407 (11-for-27) in six post-season games...Led Eastern League players with eight runs scored and tied for the most RBI (seven) during post-season play...Went 4-for-6 with two doubles and two RBI in Altoona's playoff-opening win vs. Erie in Game One of the Divisional Series on 9/9...Hit .571 (8-for-14) with two doubles, a triple, four RBI and six runs scored in Altoona's three-game playoff sweep of Erie.

2003

Spent entire season with Altoona and appeared in a team-high 137 games...Finished fifth in the Eastern League and established a club record in stolen bases (record broken by Rajai Davis and Rich Thompson in 2005)...Also finished fourth among Pittsburgh farmhands in stolen bases, tied for third in runs and ranked fifth in hits...Hit .286 against right-handed pitchers and .236 against southpaws...Made all 135 defensive appearances in center field...Also went 0-for-4 in one game as the designated hitter. ...Recorded hits in his first three Double-A at-bats...Went 7-for-15 with two triples, three doubles, seven RBI and six runs scored in season-opening series @Reading...Reached base safely in 20 of his first 21 games thru 4/27...Matched Curve franchise record for stolen bases in a game (three) twice; 4/26 vs. Erie and 5/15 @Binghamton...Batted just .162 (22-for-136) from 4/20 thru 5/29, dropping average from .354 to .219...Hit lone home run on 6/1 @Trenton...Scored 22 runs in 28 games during the month of June. ...Produced season-high 11-game hitting streak from 6/26 thru 7/5 (15-for-38, .395)...Reached base safely in 18 consecutive games from 6/26 thru 7/17...Set single-season club record for stolen bases with his 30th steal on 8/10 vs. Harrisburg (game one)...Went 4-for-4 in Altoona's playoff-clinching win vs. Reading on 8/25 (game one)...Hit .373 (31-for-83) in his final 26 games to raise batting average from .256 to .273...Went 5-for-17 (.294) with a double and RBI in four Eastern League playoff games...Participated in the Arizona Fall League and hit .348 with 18 RBI in 21 games for the Mesa Desert Dogs...Ranked fifth in the A.F.L. in batting.

2002

Spent entire season with Carolina League champion Lynchburg (A)...Was named to both the mid-season and post-season All-Star squads...Was one of five Hillcats to be named to the post-season team...Ranked second in the Carolina League in hits, third in at bats and runs (85), fifth in total bases (229) and seventh in batting...Made all 130 defensive appearances in center field...Also went 3-for-10 in two games as the designated hitter...Batted .318 from the left side of the plate and .222 from the right side...Hit .324 in 66 games played on the road...Was named the league's Player-of-the-Week for the week of 5/16-22; went 12-for-24 (.500) with a home run, two doubles, five RBI and six runs scored during that span...Recorded two separate 11-game hitting streaks during the month of May and batted .341 (44-for-129) during the entire month...Went 4-for-5 with four RBI and five runs scored on 6/9 @Salem...Batted .318 (34-for-107) in 27 games during the month of June...Was the starting center fielder in the Carolina League/California League All-Star Game; played in Wilmington, DE, on 6/18...Hit just .217 during the month of July, but rebounded to bat .342 (39-for-114) with 24 runs scored in 28 games the following month...Scored four runs on 8/24 @Potomac...Hit .320 (8-for-25) with three doubles and seven runs scored in seven post-season games.

2001

Spent first professional season with Williamsport (A) after being selected by Pittsburgh in the eighth round of the June draft...Was named to the New York-Penn League All-Star Team...Led league in being hit by a pitch and shared league lead in stolen bases...Also ranked second in on-base percentage (.440), third in runs and sixth in batting...Ranked fifth among Pirate farmhands in stolen bases...Committed just one error and had eight assists while making 60 appearances in center field...Went 1-for-14 (.071) in three post-season games during Williamsport's run to a share of the NY-Penn League championship.