Marlon Byrd
Chicago Cubs — No. --
Outfielder
Born: August 30, 1977 (1977-08-30) (age 32) Boynton Beach, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 8, 2002 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Career statistics (through October 5, 2009)
Batting average	.279
Home runs	60
Runs batted in	335
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (2002-2005) Washington Nationals (2005-2006) Texas Rangers (2007-2009) Chicago Cubs (2010-present)

Marlon Jerrard Byrd (born August 30, 1977, in Boynton Beach, Florida) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs. He was formerly a top prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, as he was their tenth round pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft.

[edit] Biography

[edit] High school career

Byrd is a 1995 graduate of Sprayberry High School (Marietta, Georgia), and won All-State honors in baseball and football.

[edit] College career

Byrd played baseball at Georgia Tech. After a major injury, he transferred to Georgia Perimeter Junior College where he earned an AS Degree in Business in May 1999, while rededicating himself to baseball. The injury was to his right leg in which he sustained muscular damage and an infection which cut off the circulation to his nerves. He had to undergo three operations to correct the problem. [1]

[edit] Major league career

[edit] Philadelphia Phillies

Once he reached the big leagues in 2003, Byrd had an outstanding season. He came in fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, batting .303 with 86 runs scored, 28 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 11 stolen bases in 135 games and 495 at-bats. In 2004, he did not keep his high level performance and was eventually traded to the Washington Nationals.

[edit] Washington Nationals

Byrd was traded to the Washington Nationals in 2005 for Endy Chavez. On July 15, 2006, Byrd was designated for assignment and assigned to Washington's Triple-A affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs.

[edit] Texas Rangers

Byrd was signed as a free agent by the Rangers on December 8, 2006, to compete for the starting position in center field. [2] After failing to make the Rangers' major league roster out of spring training, Byrd was assigned to the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks. Byrd's contract was purchased on May 26, 2007, following injuries to outfielders Brad Wilkerson and Jerry Hairston, Jr. ^[1] Making the most of his call-up by hitting over .400 for the month of June,^[2] Byrd played his way into the line-up, allowing the Rangers to trade center fielder Kenny Lofton prior to the trading deadline. On August 4, 2008, he hit a walk-off grand slam to help the Rangers beat the Yankees 9–5.

Byrd had a career season in 2009, hitting 20 home runs and collecting 89 RBIs.

Following the 2009 season, Byrd filed for free agency, declining the Rangers' offer of salary arbitration.^[3]

[edit] Chicago Cubs

On December 31, 2009, Byrd signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube