Luke Hughes

Luke Hughes
Hughes with the Oakland Athletics
Melbourne Aces
Infielder / Outfielder
Born: (1984-08-02) 2 August 1984
Perth, Western Australia
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 28, 2010, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
Batting average .218
Home runs 8
Runs batted in 33
Teams
Medals
Men’s Baseball
Representing  Australia
Haarlem Baseball Week
2016 Haarlem National team

Luke Trevor Hughes (born 2 August 1984) is an Australian professional baseball infielder for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics and in international competition for the Australia national baseball team.

Career

Hughes playing for the Perth Heat in the 2009 Claxton Shield Final on 7 February 2009.

Hughes played the 2001/2002 season in the International Baseball League of Australia, where he was named as the All-Star second baseman.

He helped the Perth Heat win the 2003 Claxton Shield with a .429 batting average. He also won the Golden Glove in the 2004 Claxton Shield. He currently plays for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League and grew up playing for the Morley Eagles Baseball Club.

Minnesota Twins

He was then signed to the Minnesota Twins early 2002. He debuted professionally a year later with the GCL Twins, reaching base safely in 19 straight games at one point. He was named to the Gulf Coast League All-Star team at third base. In 2004, he moved to the Elizabethton Twins and played second base.

After two seasons with the New Britain Rock Cats and appearances for the 2007 and 2008 Eastern League All-Star team, he was promoted to AAA with the Rochester Red Wings. He also played in the 2008 All-Star Futures Game and was the only Australian that played for the World team.

On April 24th, 2010, he was called up to the Minnesota Twins Major League roster as Nick Punto was sent to the DL.

On April 28th, 2010 he debuted for the Twins at third base. In his first Major League at bat he hit a home run against Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer. In comparison, hitting a first at bat home run is twice as rare as throwing a no-hitter. Hughes' home run was calculated to have gone 360 feet.[1] He is the 106th person in MLB history to homer in his first major league at-bat dating back to 1855 (less than once per season: .68), and was the 2nd to do so during the 2010 season (the first was Jason Heyward). Six other Twins have homered in their first at-bat: Rick Renick (1968), Dave McKay (1975), Gary Gaetti (1981), Andre David (1984), Eddie Rosario (2015), and Jake Cave (2018)

Oakland Athletics

On April 22nd, 2012, he was claimed off of waivers by the Oakland Athletics to make room on the Twins roster for RHP Jason Marquis. However, 8 days later, Hughes was designated for assignment when Brandon Inge was signed. Hughes was 1–13 in 4 games with Oakland while striking out 6 times.[2] He was released on 17 July.

Toronto Blue Jays

On August 1st, 2012, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Hughes and assigned him to their AAA affiliate Las Vegas 51s.

Hughes signed with the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League for the 2015 season.

Australian National Team

Hughes played for Australia in the 2005 Baseball World Cup where he batted 1 for 15. Again he played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic going 0 from 3. In 2006, he picked up his form in the Intercontinental Cup, the Australian batted .455 and slugged .755. In 5 games at second and four at third, he was error-free.

Hughes hit .333 for Australia in the 2007 Baseball World Cup. Hughes tied a game against the Dutch national team with a 9th-inning sacrifice fly. Against the Venezuela national team, Luke cracked a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to win the game. He broke open a tie game against Team Canada in the top of the 9th with a double and the go-ahead run. America's Jayson Nix beat him out for All-Star honours at second base in the tournament.

In 2018, he selected exhibition series against Japan.[3]

Awards and Highlights

References

  1. ↑ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100428&content_id=9653204&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
  2. ↑ Sinker, Howard (30 April 2012). "The Luke Hughes Era in Oakland is over". Minneapolis Star Tribune.
  3. ↑ Baseball Australia Media (February 20, 2018). "Team Australia Roster Announced". Baseball Australia Southern Thunder. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
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