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Old 08-22-2007, 09:35 PM   #136 (permalink)
jamus23
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Remembering the Hall of Famers: SS Hector Abad

Hector Abad:

To me, Hector Abad is significant for several reasons. Firstly, Abad was the fourth future HoFer to play for Atlanta at the same time in the early history of the league; the other three have all been mentioned already. Secondly, I would consider Abad to be the final member of the first era of Hall of Famers. By that, I mean those players who had established themselves as great players in the first decade of the league. Though Abad's career would encompass all of the second decade, and stretch well into the third decade, it was in the first decade that he first established himself. Lastly, if one were to try to decide who was the greatest hitter ever, Hector Abad would probably be one of the first players mentioned.

Strangely, Abad's career developed very similarly to Robert Jordan's. Like Jordan, Abad was drafted by Grand Rapids. Three years after drafting Jordan in 2006, the Tigers made Abad the #1 overall pick in the 2009 draft. Within three seasons, Abad was an All-Star, batting .336 with 31 HR in 2011. In 2013, Abad won his first Silver Slugger Award. Two years after Jordan had left Grand Rapids for a National League team, Abad did the same, signing with Portland in 2015. He proceeded to win back to back Silver Sluggers in 2015 and 2016.

And then, one year before Jordan would do so, Abad signed with Atlanta in 2019, joining 1B Carlos Testa and 2B Tony Martinez to form one of the most talented infields ever assembled. That year, Atlanta would lose a heartbreaking Game Seven in the ALCS to Memphis: 5-3 in 13 innings. Abad batted .464 in that series. Despite the addition of Jordan in 2020, the Braves once again lost in 7 games in the ALCS, this time to Grand Rapids.

In 2021, however, Atlanta would finally emerge victorious, reaching the World Series, and beating Pittsburgh in 7 games. Abad would play the hero in Game 4 of the World Series. The Braves trailed 2 games to 1, and had gotten pummeled in Game 3 by a score of 14-1. In Game 4, the Pirates jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Abad stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first and ripped a two run homer to tie the game up. The Braves struck for 4 runs in the second inning, but the lead was in danger after Pittsburgh scored 3 in the 7th inning. In the bottom of the 7th, Abad belted his second homerun of the game, and the Braves would escape with a 7-5 win, evening the series. Following the 2021 season, Abad was awarded his fourth Silver Slugger.

In 2025, Abad became the all time leader in homeruns and was the first player to hit 600 HR in a career. By the 2027 season, Abad stood atop the hit list, the HR list, the RBI list, the walks list, and the runs scored list. He ranked 5th in AVG, 10th in doubles, 2nd in triples, and 20th in stolen bases. He remained the HR leader until he was passed by current leader Donald Murillo in 2040.

Although he has slipped from the very top of most of these lists, today he remains the all time leader in walks, and sits 11th in hits, 5th in HR, 9th in RBI, 5th in triples, and 2nd in runs scored.

Abad's career stats:

Code:
Career Batting Stats 
 
 
Year     G    AB    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI    R   BB    K  SB  CS  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS Teams 
2009   119   394  110  15   5   5   40   61   69   84  20  11 .279 .387 .381  .767 GR 
2010   150   546  164  26   7  20   98  111  102  130  20  11 .300 .410 .484  .894 GR 
2011   155   556  187  35   9  31  114  117  112  128  16  11 .336 .448 .599 1.047 GR,AL 
2012   155   578  174  28   7  31  119  127  124  112  12  10 .301 .425 .535  .959 GR,AL 
2013   156   607  216  42  11  45  152  141   97  110  12  13 .356 .445 .684 1.128 GR,AL 
2014   152   573  206  33  13  44  158  141  118   77  11  10 .360 .469 .693 1.162 GR,AL 
2015   153   561  195  35   5  46  118  119   89   85   9  16 .348 .437 .674 1.111 POR,NL 
2016   157   547  181  34   7  50  123  137  112   66   9   7 .331 .445 .693 1.137 POR,NL 
2017   153   522  152  17   2  42  108  122  108   68  24  12 .291 .413 .573  .985 POR,NL 
2018   131   453  141  30   2  44   99  118  104   66  20  19 .311 .440 .678 1.118 POR,NL 
2019   154   554  162  26   5  49  144  127  110   79  23  12 .292 .410 .623 1.032 ATL,AL 
2020   154   547  171  27   7  36  123  129  135   80  27  16 .313 .449 .585 1.034 ATL,AL 
2021   155   567  197  31  13  37  125  124  109   72  14  11 .347 .453 .644 1.096 ATL,AL 
2022   157   553  187  30   5  36  101  131  115   86  33  20 .338 .452 .606 1.058 ATL,AL 
2023   145   521  175  19   3  26  104   97  115   57  28  18 .336 .456 .534  .990 ATL,AL 
2024   153   549  184  25   6  31  108  123  121   81  17  13 .335 .455 .572 1.027 ATL,AL 
2025   152   497  168  35  10  31   93  123  118   70   9  12 .338 .465 .636 1.101 ATL,AL 
2026   153   535  166  30   7  19   96  106  115   75   9   5 .310 .432 .499  .931 ATL,AL 
2027   129   385  123  28   2  17   70   75   69   64   2   3 .319 .423 .535  .958 ATL 
2028     4    13    3   1   0   1    2    2    1    6   0   0 .231 .286 .538  .824 WAS 
Total 2837 10058 3262 547 126 641 2095 2231 2043 1596 315 230 .324 .438 .595 1.033   
 
Career Minor League Batting Stats
 
 
Year     G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2009, AA 3  9 2  0  0  0   0 2  5 5  1  0 .222 .500 .222 .722 
 
Career Postseason Batting Stats
 
 
Year   G  AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2012   5  20  7  0  0  2   5  5  4  2  1  1 .350 .458 .650 1.108 
2019   7  28 13  0  1  1   3  4  3  3  1  3 .464 .516 .643 1.159 
2020   7  25  8  1  0  3   5  5  6  3  2  0 .320 .452 .720 1.172 
2021  12  41 10  2  0  3   8 11 10  4  0  1 .244 .392 .512  .904 
Total 31 114 38  3  1  9  21 25 23 12  4  5 .333 .445 .614 1.059 
 
 
Player History
 
 
Drafted in 1st round, 1st overall pick, by Grand Rapids in 2009...
Had first career hit on 4/2/2009, off Freddy Muņoz (MEM)...
Hit first career homerun on 6/8/2009, off Mikel Stoltenberg (WAS)...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/12/2010, hitting .458 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Tucson on 9/4/2010...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/30/2011, hitting .474 with 2 HR, 4 RBI...
Was selected to the 2011 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Memphis on 4/28/2012...
Was selected to the 2012 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2012, hitting .481 with 3 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/28/2012, hitting .444 with 2 HR, 6 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/5/2013, hitting .609 with 2 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2013, hitting .366 with 6 HR, 26 RBI...
Was selected to the 2013 Allstar game...
Hit 3 homeruns against Atlanta, driving in 5 runs on 7/13/2013...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2013, hitting .362 with 11 HR, 26 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/11/2013, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 13 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2013, hitting .400 with 7 HR, 29 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2013, hitting .408 with 8 HR, 28 RBI...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2013, hitting .356 with 45 HR, 152 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2014, hitting .471 with 4 HR, 10 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Nashville on 4/19/2014...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/21/2014, hitting .593 with 5 HR, 16 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/28/2014, hitting .407 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 5/1/2014, hitting .462 with 14 HR, 42 RBI...
Was selected to the 2014 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 7/26/2014...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/29/2014, hitting .529 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Injured on 9/29/2014 with a Pulled Elbow Ligament, out for one week...
Signed as a free agent by Portland on 2/1/2015 to a 4-year deal worth $16,789,200 per year...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2015, hitting .383 with 10 HR, 24 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/16/2015, hitting .444 with 3 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 7/1/2015, hitting .340 with 10 HR, 20 RBI...
Was selected to the 2015 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/25/2015, hitting .522 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2015, hitting .406 with 10 HR, 25 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/15/2015, hitting .440 with 4 HR, 9 RBI...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2015, hitting .348 with 46 HR, 118 RBI...
Was selected to the 2016 Allstar game...
Drove in 7 runs against Sacramento on 9/5/2016...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2016, hitting .340 with 8 HR, 27 RBI...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2016, hitting .331 with 50 HR, 123 RBI...
Was selected to the 2017 Allstar game...
Won Gold Glove Award at Shortstop in 2017...
Injured on 4/26/2018 with a Strained Elbow Ligament, out for 1-2 weeks...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/28/2018, hitting .524 with 4 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 5/1/2018, hitting .333 with 11 HR, 17 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Sacramento on 6/22/2018...
Won Batter of the Month award on 7/1/2018, hitting .314 with 10 HR, 26 RBI...
Was selected to the 2018 Allstar game...
Injured on 7/24/2018 with a Sore Back, out for one week...
Signed as a free agent by Atlanta on 2/4/2019 to a 5-year deal worth $16,862,900 per year...
Was selected to the 2019 Allstar game...
Hit for the cycle against Memphis on 6/6/2020...
Was selected to the 2020 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Kansas City on 7/14/2020...
Had 2000th career hit on 7/30/2020, off Paul Aarons (KNO)...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/7/2021, hitting .545 with 2 HR, 6 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/28/2021, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 5 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2021, hitting .398 with 4 HR, 28 RBI...
Was selected to the 2021 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/11/2021, hitting .526 with 3 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2021, hitting .380 with 6 HR, 21 RBI...
Won World Series with Atlanta in 2021...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2021, hitting .347 with 37 HR, 125 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 5/1/2022, hitting .376 with 11 HR, 20 RBI...
Had 500th career homerun on 6/21/2022, off John Laliberte (KNO)...
Was selected to the 2022 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/28/2022, hitting .429 with 2 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/4/2022, hitting .533 with 2 HR, 2 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Tucson on 4/21/2023...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2023, hitting .400 with 7 HR, 20 RBI...
Was selected to the 2023 Allstar game...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2023, hitting .349 with 7 HR, 23 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Tucson on 4/21/2024...
Was selected to the 2024 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/15/2024, hitting .448 with 2 HR, 7 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 4/3/2025...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/2/2025, hitting .588 with 4 HR, 9 RBI...
Was selected to the 2025 Allstar game...
Had 600th career homerun on 8/15/2025, off Robert Beatty (MEM)...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2025, hitting .636 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Had 3000th career hit on 4/30/2026, off Carlos Castro (WAS)...
Was selected to the 2026 Allstar game...
Signed as a free agent by Washington on 3/1/2028 to a minor league contract.
Released by Washington on 5/26/2028, refused assignment to minors...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2029.
 
 
Batting Leader Boards Appearances 
 
AVG
2011 - .336 - 3rd
2013 - .356 - 1st
2014 - .360 - 1st
2015 - .348 - 2nd
2016 - .331 - 5th
2018 - .311 - 10th
2021 - .347 - 1st
 
OBP
2010 - .410 - 4th
2011 - .448 - 1st
2012 - .425 - 2nd
2013 - .445 - 1st
2014 - .469 - 1st
2015 - .437 - 1st
2016 - .445 - 1st
2017 - .413 - 3rd
2018 - .440 - 1st
2019 - .410 - 5th
2020 - .449 - 1st
2021 - .453 - 1st
 
SLG
2011 - .599 - 2nd
2012 - .535 - 7th
2013 - .684 - 1st
2014 - .693 - 1st
2015 - .674 - 1st
2016 - .693 - 1st
2017 - .573 - 2nd
2018 - .678 - 1st
2019 - .623 - 3rd
2020 - .585 - 5th
2021 - .644 - 1st
 
OPS
2010 -  .894 - 9th
2011 - 1.047 - 2nd
2012 -  .959 - 6th
2013 - 1.128 - 1st
2014 - 1.162 - 1st
2015 - 1.111 - 1st
2016 - 1.137 - 1st
2017 -  .985 - 2nd
2018 - 1.118 - 1st
2019 - 1.032 - 3rd
2020 - 1.034 - 2nd
2021 - 1.096 - 1st
 
Hits
2011 - 187 - 8th
2013 - 216 - 1st
2014 - 206 - 2nd
2015 - 195 - 5th
2016 - 181 - 10th
2021 - 197 - 2nd
 
Doubles
2013 - 42 - 6th
 
Triples
2010 -  7 - 6th
2011 -  9 - 3rd
2012 -  7 - 5th
2013 - 11 - 1st
2014 - 13 - 1st
2016 -  7 - 4th
2021 - 13 - 3rd
 
Homeruns
2011 - 31 - 7th
2012 - 31 - 6th
2013 - 45 - 3rd
2014 - 44 - 5th
2015 - 46 - 1st
2016 - 50 - 1st
2017 - 42 - 2nd
2018 - 44 - 3rd
2019 - 49 - 1st
2020 - 36 - 6th
 
RBI
2011 - 114 - 8th
2012 - 119 - 7th
2013 - 152 - 1st
2014 - 158 - 2nd
2015 - 118 - 3rd
2016 - 123 - 4th
2017 - 108 - 10th
2019 - 144 - 1st
2020 - 123 - 3rd
 
Runs
2010 - 111 - 8th
2011 - 117 - 3rd
2012 - 127 - 5th
2013 - 141 - 1st
2014 - 141 - 2nd
2015 - 119 - 2nd
2016 - 137 - 1st
2017 - 122 - 1st
2018 - 118 - 4th
2019 - 127 - 2nd
2020 - 129 - 2nd
 
BB
2010 - 102 - 3rd
2011 - 112 - 1st
2012 - 124 - 1st
2013 -  97 - 5th
2014 - 118 - 1st
2015 -  89 - 6th
2016 - 112 - 2nd
2017 - 108 - 2nd
2018 - 104 - 3rd
2019 - 110 - 1st
2020 - 135 - 1st
 
SB
2009 - 20 - 10th
2010 - 20 - 10th
2020 - 27 - 10th
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