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JD Drew
David Jonathan "J. D." Drew was born November 20, 1975, in Valdosta, Georgia and is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Boston Red Sox. He is a left-handed hitter, and began his major league career in 1998 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He is a left-handed hitting outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who began his major league career in 1998 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Drew was the second overall pick in the 1997 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Drew and his agent Scott Boras, elected not to sign with the Phillies, sticking to their guarantee that they would not sign for less than $10 million dollars. The Phillies had no plan to pay an unproven player this amount of money, and despite Boras' warnings, drafted Drew nonetheless. Drew sat out 1997, and was selected fifth overall in 1998 by the St. Louis Cardinals. To this day, he is booed every time he makes a plate appearance in Philadelphia.
He blew through the minor leagues, and made his debut with the Cardinals at the end of the 1998 season, and was dazzling in the shadow of Mark McGwire's breaking of the home run record, drawing comparisons to Mickey Mantle. In 1999, in Drew's first appearance at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, he was booed loudly, and even had batteries thrown at him by fans. He was never able to stay healthy, landing on the disabled list every season he played in St. Louis.
Drew was traded to the Atlanta Braves in December 2003, where he had the best season of his career while finally managing to stay healthy. He displayed excellent power, patience, and defense and hit .305.436.569 with 31 home runs, 118 walks, and 96 RBI's in his 2004 campaign, finishing 6th in the MVP voting.
Drew signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December of 2004 for a reported 5 year, $55 million dollar contract, which included an escape clause after the second year. Roughly halfway through the season, it was cut short, after being hit on the wrist by a pitch from Arizona Diamondbacks' pitcher Brad Halsey.
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