Danny Ardoin

Daniel Wayne Ardoin...he and his wife, Hope, have four children, Andrew (Drew) Kile (6/9/98), Silas Daniel (9/19/00), Erin Claire (3/3/03), and Samuel (10/25/04)...played baseball, football, golf and track at Sacred Heart High in Ville Platte, La...was the Class AA MVP in baseball his senior year.

2005

A non-roster invitee to Rockies spring training camp, he was purchased from Colorado Springs in early June and would lead the team with 66 starts at catcher...it was his most major league action in a season as he easily set career highs in every category...had appeared in just 6 major league games in the prior 4 seasons...batted .229 (48-for-210) with 6 home runs and 22 RBI in 80 total games for the Rockies, his first contests in the National League...had 4 catcher pickoffs, tied with Washington's Brian Schneider for the NL lead and also T3rd-most in the major leagues...threw out 18 of 41 (43.9%) attempted base stealers, 3rd-highest percentage in National League among catchers with 20 or more chances...pitching staff had a 4.87 ERA (591.0 ip, 320 er) with Ardoin behind the plate, lowest among Colorado catchers by over one-third of a run...was starter for 2 of club's 4 shutouts in 2005...tied Todd Helton for team lead with 9 hit by pitches and ranked 4th on club with 7 sac bunts...homered 3 times both at home and on road...2 of his 3 career 3-hit games have come against Arizona...caught both runners attempting to steal on June 8 vs. Chicago-AL...began the year with Triple-A Colorado Springs...hit 4 home runs in a span of 6 games from April 21-30, including a long ball in both ends of doubleheader on April 30 vs. Portland...when purchased by Colorado on June 6, ranked among PCL leaders in average (6th, .338) and on-base percentage (5th, .438)...batted .364 (24-for-66) in home games for Sky Sox...made his Colorado debut on June 7 vs. Chicago-AL, going 1-for-2 with a walk and his only steal of the year...homered in last contest of a 5-game hit streak on June 30 at St. Louis...it was his first major league home run since Aug. 10, 2000 at Tampa Bay, that being his first major league hit...of his 9 hits in July, 3 came in one game, a 3-for-3 effort on July 25 vs. New York-NL...was one of a trio of career-high 3-hit games for Ardoin in '05...hit .400 (12-for-30) over a 12-game stretch from Aug. 6-23...had 3 hits and career-high 3 runs scored on Aug. 6 at Arizona...homered in consecutive games with an at-bat Aug. 6-8 (G2)...homered 3 times in a career-high 6-game hit streak from Sept. 16-23...3 of his 6 hits in that span were homers...went 2-for-19 over final 7 games to finish at .229...had 9 walks in his last 24 games after 11 walks in first 56 contests.

2004

Began the season with Triple-A Oklahoma where he batted .321 with 8 homers and 39 RBI in 52 games when his contract was purchased by Texas on July 2...started the next day at catcher, going 0-for-3 with a walk at Houston...it was his first major league game in nearly four years since Aug. 29, 2000...was 1-for-3 with an RBI on July 8 at Cleveland, his first RBI in the big leagues since driving in a career high 3 on Aug. 23, 2000 vs. Tampa Bay...played in 6 games (3 starts) with Texas before being designated for assignment July 23...returned to Oklahoma on July 29 and wound up hitting .308 with 10 homers and 44 RBI in 68 total games for the RedHawks.

2003

Spent the entire season with Oklahoma (AAA), batting .243 with 7 homers and 35 RBI...played in 74 total games, 52 at catcher...also appeared in 10 games at third base and 10 as the DH...hit .284 vs. righties, .227 vs. lefties...played with Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League.

2002

Combined to play in 66 games for the Royals and Rangers organizations...opened with Kansas City's Class AAA affiliate, Omaha, hitting .208 in 25 contests...was released May 15 and signed with Texas the following day...posted a .226 average in 33 games (31 starts at catcher) with Oklahoma (AAA)...was assigned to Tulsa (AA) on July 13 and played 8 games there before re-joining the RedHawks on July 24.

2001

Spent the entire year with Edmonton (AAA) in the Twins organization, batting .255 with 5 HR and 37 RBI...played in 88 games with 81 starts at catcher...posted a 9-game hit streak, April 13-28.

2000

Made his major league debut with Minnesota Aug. 2 at Baltimore (0-2, 3 BB)...homered off Tanyon Sturtze for his first ML hit on Aug. 10 at Tampa Bay...started 10 of his 15 games with the Twins, catching 4-of-8 attempted basestealers...opened the season with Oakland's Triple-A affiliate, Sacramento and played in 67 contests before being traded to the Twins July 31...was on the disabled list from June 9-26 with a strained left shoulder, then played four games at Modesto on rehab assignment.

1999

Danny helped Vancouver win the Triple-A World Series in his first-ever assignment above Class AA...batted .253 with 8 HR and 46 RBI in 109 games...threw out 47% of attempted basestealers (30/64).

1998

Played the entire season with Huntsville (AA) and finished second on the squad in walks (62) and third in home runs (16)...spent time on the DL, July 27-Aug. 4, with a sprained left ankle.

1997

Opened the season with Huntsville (AA) but finished at Visalia (A)...posted a combined .232 average with 7 HR and 42 RBI...was on the DL from May 4-12 with a sprained left shoulder.

1996

In 91 games with Class A Modesto, Danny hit .262 (83-for-317)...spent nearly 6 weeks on the disabled list with a broken right hand (May 1-June 12).

1995

In first pro season, led all NWL catchers in games, total chances, putouts and assists for South Oregon.