text: jeffrey hammonds jeffrey bryan hammonds ( born march 5 , 1971 in plainfield , new jersey ) is an american former professional baseball player . hammonds was an outfielder and played for the baltimore orioles ( 1993 – 1998 ) , cincinnati reds ( 1998 – 1999 ) , colorado rockies ( 2000 ) , milwaukee brewers ( 2001 – 2003 ) , san francisco giants ( 2003 – 2004 ) and the washington nationals ( 2005 ) in major league baseball ( mlb ) . before playing professionally , hammonds played for scotch plains - fanwood high school in scotch plains , new jersey and stanford university . at stanford , hammonds was named an all - american . the orioles selected hammonds with the fourth overall selection of the 1992 mlb draft . though he was seen as one of the best prospects in baseball , injuries limited his performance with baltimore . after he was traded to cincinnati and then to colorado , he emerged with the rockies in 2000 , and was selected to appear at the 2000 major league baseball all - star game . he signed a three - year , $ 21 . 75 million contract with the milwaukee brewers that off - season , but continued to struggle with injuries . he had a resurgence with the giants in 2003 , after he was released by the brewers , but struggled with the giants in 2004 and nationals in 2005 before retiring . amateur career hammonds was born in scotch plains , new jersey , he attended scotch plains - fanwood high school , where he played for the school 's baseball team . after high school , hammonds was a ninth - round draft pick of the toronto blue jays in the 1989 major league baseball draft , though he did not sign . he reported that he never considered going professional at that point , as his parents insisted he attend college , and that hammonds ' brother , who had signed with the pittsburgh pirates out of high school , suffered a career - ending injury while playing in minor league baseball . hammonds had scholarship offers to attend duke university , the university of notre dame , and stanford university and play college baseball . he chose to attend stanford university , where he played for the stanford cardinal baseball team that competed in the pacific - 10 conference ( pac - 10 ) in the national collegiate athletic association 's ( ncaa ) division i. at stanford , hammonds broke the pac - 10 single season stolen base record as a freshman , stealing 102 bases in 174 career games . hammonds was awarded ncaa freshman of the year and voted all - college world series in 1990 and was also named an all - american in that year . during the 1992 season , hammonds batted .380 with 33 stolen bases in 47 games , and was again named an all - american . he again led the cardinal to the 1992 college world series . professional career draft before the 1992 major league baseball draft , hammonds indicated that he would sign if offered a $ 1 . 8 million signing bonus , which caused hammonds to fall to the fourth overall selection , where the baltimore orioles selected hammonds with their first - round draft pick . frank robinson , then the orioles ' assistant general manager ( gm ) , met hammonds at that year 's college world series while scouting , and advised orioles gm doug melvin to pick hammonds . the orioles , regarded as frugal , held a hard line with hammonds in negotiations , refusing to give a signing bonus as large as $ 1 million . hammonds did not play professionally in 1992 as he competed for the united states national baseball team in the 1992 summer olympics in barcelona . he faced a two - month road trip across sixteen states by bus , more travel combined with training than employed by any professional team . hammonds struggled with the national team initially , but agreed to sign with the orioles in july 1992 , receiving a $ 975 , 000 signing bonus , the largest of any player chosen in that draft . upon signing , his hitting improved . top prospect : baltimore orioles ( 1992 – 1996 ) without having played a single professional game , baseball america rated hammonds as the 19th best prospect in baseball . he made his professional debut in 1993 with the bowie baysox of the class - aa eastern league , where he batted .283 , at which point he was promoted to the rochester red wings of the class - aaa international league , where he batted .311 . hammonds received a promotion to the orioles on june 25 , becoming the first player chosen in the 1992 mlb draft to reach the majors , where his debut was greeted with fanfare and high expectations . he batted .305 in 105 at - bats with the orioles that season , however he suffered a pinched nerve in may , and a neck injury in august . the orioles ended his season prematurely to allow hammonds to recover . thought of as a potential candidate for the american league rookie of the year award , at this point baseball america rated hammonds the third best prospect in all of baseball . hammonds suffered a knee injury during the 1994 season but opted to continue playing despite being told he needed reconstructive knee surgery , with his subsequent performances limited as a result . when the orioles needed to reduce their roster from 28 players to 25 in may 1995 , hammonds , who started the season batting 4 - for - 19 , was optioned back to bowie . after struggling with the orioles early in the 1996 season , batting .237 in 56 games , he was demoted back to rochester in june . the orioles included hammonds in numerous trade proposals that summer , but eventually held on to him . during his spell with rochester hammonds became more selective in his approach at the plate , and was recalled to the orioles . hammonds injured his knee in august and though he returned to the orioles in september , they left him off their postseason roster , as they asserted that they felt hammonds was rusty . hammonds believed that the snub meant he should be traded , but stopped short of demanding a trade . searching for success : baltimore orioles and cincinnati reds ( 1997 – 1999 ) formerly considered a top prospect in the orioles organization , hammonds returned to them in 1997 with his role in the organization unclear . in past spring trainings hammonds had always practiced with the starters ; in 1997 , the orioles alternated him between the starters , who practiced in the stadium , and the minor leaguers and non - roster players , who practiced in fields behind the stadium near an airport runway . new gm pat gillick didn 't deny that the orioles could trade him if hammonds didn 't maximize his talent , though he called a potential trade a " last resort " . despite this hammonds had a successful season , playing in 118 games that season , receiving 397 at - bats . he scored 71 runs , had 105 hits , including 19 doubles , three triples , and 21 home runs , and recorded 55 rbi . by 1998 , hammonds and the orioles were hoping he would achieve more consistency . with the threat of facing a salary arbitration hearing , the orioles approached him with the idea of working out an agreement on a multi - year contract extension . hammonds agreed , and signed a three - year , $ 7 million contract before the 1998 season . hammonds felt that this was a strong commitment from the orioles hierarchy , including gillick , after which manager ray miller believed that this would allow hammonds to focus on improving his skills . however , hammonds suffered a back injury that returned him to the disabled list that year . when hammonds recovered , the orioles traded him to the cincinnati reds for willie greene in august 1998 . hammonds served as a backup outfielder for the reds , though he batted .279 with 17 home runs and 41 rbis in 123 games during the 1999 season . he had a three home run game on may 20 . after the season , the reds traded hammonds with stan belinda to the colorado rockies for dante and $ 1 . 9 million to make up for the differences in salaries , as the reds believed the slugging could aid them in replacing greg vaughn . all - star season and multiyear contract : colorado rockies , milwaukee brewers ( 2000 – 2003 ) in 2000 with the colorado rockies , hammonds batted .335 with 20 home runs , 106 rbi , 14 stolen bases , in only 454 at bats . for his performance , he earned a spot on the 2000 national league all - star team roster . he trailed only teammate todd helton in batting average for the majority of the season , eventually finishing with the fourth - highest batting average in the league , behind helton , moisés alou , and vladimir guerrero . after the season , the rockies declined to offer hammonds salary arbitration , making him a free agent . due to concerns about hammonds ' injury history , including 40 games missed due to injury in the 2000 season , the rockies chose not to meet hammonds ' financial demands . before the 2001 season , the milwaukee brewers signed hammonds to a three - year , $ 21 . 75 million contract , the largest contract the organization had approved to that date . however , injuries prevented hammonds from approaching the all - star form he had shown with the rockies . he suffered a shoulder injury in 2001 which required surgery and this limited him to 49 games played for the season . he returned with a hot start in the 2002 season , batting .324 as of june 5 , but he had a recurrence of the shoulder injury later in the season that returned him to the disabled list yet again . hammonds then began the 2003 season on the disabled list , this time with a high ankle sprain . struggles , resurgence , and injuries : san francisco giants and washington nationals ( 2003 – 2005 ) the brewers released hammonds on june 4 , 2003 after he struggled in ten games , batting .158 . he signed with the san francisco giants at the end of june . they initially assigned him to the class - aaa fresno grizzlies of the pacific coast league , before promoting him on july 30 . he batted .277 with three home runs and 10 rbis in 36 games during the second half of the 2003 season , and was selected for the giants ' postseason roster over marvin benard and eric young where he batted 2 - for - 4 in game 4 of the 2003 national league division series . granted free agency at the end of the season , he re - signed with the giants for the 2004 season for $ 1 million , as the replacement for jose cruz , jr . , who had left after becoming a free agent . however , hammonds was unable to sustain his improved performance and the giants released hammonds that june , after he batted .211 with three home runs and six rbis . hammonds then signed with the washington nationals organization on a minor league contract . he started the 2005 season with the new orleans zephyrs of the pcl , but was recalled to the nationals on may 3 . he batted .219 with one rbi in thirteen games for the nationals , before returning to the disabled list with an injured hamstring on may 22 . while rehabilitating the injury , hammonds decided to retire rather than return to the minor leagues . though hammonds had great natural talent , his injuries limited his career . hammonds announced his retirement on june 10 , 2005 . in his thirteen - year career in mlb , he batted .272 , 110 home runs , 824 hits , and 423 rbis . personal hammonds lives in weston , florida with his three children . he is currently a scout for the san diego padres . he has interest in digital media , aiding baseball prospects , and working for the major league baseball players association . on february 6 , 2014 , hammonds was hired by the players ' union as special assistant for player program development . hammonds ' older brother , reginald , played minor league baseball for the pittsburgh pirates ' organization , reaching class - aaa before suffering a career - ending injury . he enrolled at northwestern university , graduated , became a stockbroker and aided hammonds in his 1992 contract negotiations .