Nate McLouth

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**Nate McLouth**

Pittsburgh Pirates — No. 13
Center Fielder
Born: October 28, 1981 (1981-10-28) (age 26)
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
June 29, 2005 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Batting Average	.263
Home Runs	38
Runs Batted In	108
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2005-present)

Nathan "Nate" Richard McLouth (Born October 28, 1981 in Muskegon, MI) is a Major League Baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Primarily a center fielder, McLouth bats from the left side and throws from the right. He is 5' 11" tall and weighs 185 pounds. His last name is commonly mispronounced; the correct pronunciation rhymes with the word "mouth", rather than the word "couth".

After graduating from Whitehall Sr. High School, where he stole an amazing 179 bases in 180 attempts in his high school career, McLouth was selected by the Pirates in the 25th round of the 2000 June draft. McLouth would have been chosen much sooner (Namely the very interested Boston Red Sox), but many scouts believed that he had a firm commitment to the University of Michigan. After an encouraging debut in full-season ball with the Hickory Crawdads, he struggled at the high-A Lynchburg Hillcats in 2002. McLouth rebounded with a strong season at that same level in 2003, however, earning a spot on the league's All-Star team.

McLouth continued to steadily advance through the minors, and on June 29, 2005, he made his major league debut. As a result of an injury to starting center fielder Chris Duffy, McLouth received a substantial amount of playing time through the end of the season. In 109 at bats, he compiled a .257 batting average, a .305 on base percentage, and a .450 slugging percentage.

McLouth made the Pittsburgh Pirates 2006 opening day lineup as a backup outfielder, sending OF Jody Gerut to start the year in Triple-A.

McLouth entered spring training 2008 in a competition with teammate Nyjer Morgan for the starting job as the team's center fielder. McLouth batted over .300 in the preseason and won the competition. McLouth began the 2008 season with a 19 game hitting streak, 20 dating back to 2007, which ended on April 22, 2008. He struggled in the first three weeks of May. However, after seeing his batting average drop to a season low of .298 on May 21, 2008, Mclouth rebounded with a four hit performance the next day against the Milwaukee Brewers. As of May 26, 2008, Mclouth ranks among the NL league leaders in runs (44), RBI (40), and home runs (13), and remains one of the biggest surprise performers of the first two months of the 2008 season.