Carlos Quentin

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**Carlos Quentin**

Chicago White Sox — No. 20
Outfielder
Born: August 28, 1982 (1982-08-28) (age 25) Bellflower, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
July 20, 2006 for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Selected MLB statistics (through May 30, 2008)
Batting average	.252
Home runs	28
Runs batted in	111
Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks (2006-2007) Chicago White Sox (2008-present)

Carlos Jose Quentin (born August 28, 1982 in Bellflower, California), is an outfielder who plays for the Chicago White Sox.

1 School years
- 1.1 High School
- 1.2 College
2 Career
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] School years

[edit] High School

Quentin attended Saint Pius X Elementary School (Chula Vista, California), and later, University of San Diego High School (San Diego, California), where he was a three-sport star (baseball, football and basketball). He was named San Diego Male Athlete of the Year in 2000.

[edit] College

Quentin went on to attend Stanford University, where he played under legendary head coach Mark Marquess.

His Stanford career was exceptional; he was named All Pac-10 the three seasons he played (freshman, sophomore and junior). He was honored by Baseball America magazine all three seasons as well. He was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 2001. In his junior season (2003), he was named Third Team All-American by the NCBWA and was one of five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award.

Quentin helped lead the Cardinal to postseason appearances all three years of his collegiate career, culminating in a 2-for-2, 2 RBI performance in Stanford's 2003 College World Series Championship Series Game 3 loss to Rice University.

He finished his Stanford career with a .350 batting average, 35 home runs, 170 RBI, and 26 stolen bases in 199 games played for the Cardinal.

[edit] Career

[edit] Minor leagues

Quentin was Arizona's second first round pick of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft, selected 29th overall. He sat out that year after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow (a rare procedure for non-pitchers). Once recovered, he quickly became part of a talented core of young Diamondback prospects.

Quentin set a minor-league record in 2004 when he was hit by a pitch 43 times. That season, he led all Arizona minor league players in batting (.332), RBIs (91), runs (103), hits (157), and walks (69), numbers that were divided between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A El Paso. He also starred on a TV show chronicling the life of a minor leaguer with Chris Young and Dustin Nippert.

[edit] Arizona Diamondbacks

Quentin was hitting .289 with 30 doubles, three triples, nine homers and 52 RBIs in 85 games for the Tucson Sidewinders when he was called up to the Diamondbacks on July 20, 2006; after grounding out in his first two major league at-bats, Quentin hit a two-run home run off Mark Hendrickson in the sixth inning of Arizona's 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. His arrival was long anticipated by Diamondbacks fans; he was expected to replace Shawn Green as the everyday right fielder for the Diamondbacks once Green retired or otherwise left the team. Green was traded to the New York Mets in August, clearing the way for Quentin to become a full-time starter. Quentin would finish the 2006 season with a .253 batting average, 9 home runs, and 32 RBIs in 57 games for the Diamondbacks.

He began the 2007 season on the disabled list when he was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left labrum during Spring Training. He made his season debut on April 16 against the Dodgers and finished 2-for-4 with two doubles. After producing disappointing results through the first half of the season (.210, 5 HR, 28 RBI in 66 games), Quentin was demoted to Triple-A on July 6.

[edit] Chicago White Sox

On December 3rd, 2007, Quentin was traded to the Chicago White Sox for minor league first baseman Christopher Carter. Carter played for the low Class A Kannapolis Intimidators in 2007 and was considered one of the White Sox' best prospects.

Quentin has been a huge surprise for the White Sox in the first two months of the 2008 season, emerging to become the team's hottest hitter. Through May 26, he was ranking among American League leaders in home runs (first, 14), slugging percentage (first, .599), OPS (first, 1.011), runs batted in (second, 44), on-base percentage (fourth, .413) and runs (4th, 35).

White Sox fans have bestowed the nickname "TCQ" which stands for "The Carlos Quentin". The name originates from a quote from GM Kenny Williams after he acquired Quentin. He said, "We wanted to upgrade at shortstop, get a setup guy for the bullpen, acquire Carlos Quentin, and not a guy like him but actually Carlos Quentin," implying that Quentin was a special player. Quentin, who is not listed on Major League Baseball's All-Star Game fan ballots (he was expected to begin the season in the minors; minor league center fielder Jerry Owens, who was expected to be the starting CF for the White Sox, is listed instead), has made a serious case for All-Star consideration. Fittingly, White Sox fans have taken to casting write-in votes. Recently, many loyal White Sox fans have elected to drop the "T" and "C" from "TCQ" and refer to him solely as "Q".

Due to Jim Thome being in a prolonged slump, manager Ozzie Guillén promoted red-hot Quentin down the batting order into Thome's customary third spot for one game against the Angels in Anaheim. Quentin delivered a key eighth-inning grand slam, breaking a 1-1 tie, and kicked off a run that saw the White Sox win 10 of 12 games and charge to first place. He has since stayed firmly in the 3rd spot in the order. During a nationally televised home game on May 25, Quentin clocked two home runs off of the Angels' John Lackey and drove in all of the White Sox runs in a 3-2 walk-off victory. His towering home runs have drawn comparisons to sluggers such as José Canseco and Luis Gonzalez. Angels center fielder Torii Hunter characterized his pure power as "tremendous pop, like Hulk Hogan. He's crazy strong."