Cliff Floyd

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**Cliff Floyd**
Floyd with the New York Mets
Tampa Bay Rays — No. 15
Right fielder
Born: December 5, 1972 (1972-12-05) (age 35)
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
September 18, 1993 for the Montreal Expos
Selected MLB statistics (through May 21, 2008)
Avg	.279
RBI	835
HR	224
Teams
Montreal Expos (1993-1996, 2002) Florida Marlins (1997–2002) Boston Red Sox (2002) New York Mets (2003–2006) Chicago Cubs (2007) Tampa Bay Rays (2008-present)

Cornelius Clifford Floyd (December 5, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois) is a designated hitter and outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. ^[1]

1 Early years
2 Major League career
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early years

Floyd was born to parents Cornelius Clifford Floyd, Sr. and Olivia Floyd. After spending 13 years as an only child, Floyd was joined by brother Julius. Sister Shanta was later adopted when the Floyds noticed her as a six-year old classmate of Julius' who had been troublesome for her then adoptive parents. The three siblings were raised in Markham, Illinois, a small suburb south west of Chicago. Floyd's father, a former Marine, worked double shifts at a U.S. Steel plant in Chicago to allow the family to live in a safe and stable neighborhood.

At Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois, Floyd was a three-sport star in baseball, football, and basketball. In basketball, he led his high school to the Class AA Sectional Playoffs. In leading his team to the Illinois state baseball championship as a senior, he hit .508 with 130 runs batted in during the final two years of his high school prep career. He was heavily recruited by Arizona State University, Stanford, and Creighton University but when the Montreal Expos drafted him as the 14th pick in the 1st round of the 1991 amateur draft, Floyd made no hesitation and chose to go to the minor leagues.

[edit] Major League career

Floyd made his major league debut in 1993, playing in 10 games with the Expos. In 1997, Floyd was traded from the Expos to the Florida Marlins for Dustin Hermanson and Joe Orsulak. In 1998, Floyd earned a starting position in the Marlins' outfield. In 2000, in 420 at-bats, Cliff hit .300 with 22 homers and 91 RBIs.

In 2002, Floyd was traded from the Marlins back to the Expos, with Claudio Vargas, Wilton Guerrero and cash, for Graeme Lloyd, Mike Mordecai, Carl Pavano, Justin Wayne, and Donald Levinski. Later that year, Floyd was traded from the Expos to the Boston Red Sox for Sun-Woo Kim and Seung Song.

In 2003, Floyd was signed by the New York Mets. He played well for the Mets but was hampered by injuries in 2003 and 2004. However, Cliff stayed healthy in 2005 and responded with a career-high and team-leading 34 home runs. The next year, though, Floyd was once again limited by injuries and only played in 97 games during the New York's division-winning year. Cliff caught the division-clinching out for the Mets but was slowed by injuries in the playoffs for New York, only recording twelve at-bats in the his team's ten postseason games.

Floyd lives in Florida with his longtime companion Maryanne Manning, the couple's two children, his mother, and the two children of his sister Shanta. Shanta died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.

In 2007, Floyd agreed to a deal with his hometown Chicago Cubs for the 2007 season, with an option for 2008. Floyd missed nine games in August 2007 to mourn the death of his father, Cornelius. He returned on August 21, 2007, to play the San Francisco Giants, where he hit a game-winning RBI.[1]

On December 14, 2007, Floyd signed a $3 million, one year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Floyd currently platoons for the Rays at DH against righties.