Brandon Moss.
Brandon Moss was born on September 16, 1983, in Monroe, Georgia, and is currently the starting first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.
Early Career[]
Moss attended Loganville High School in Loganville, Georgia, where he spent most of his time as an infielder. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 8th round of the 2002 amateur draft. The Red Sox immediately converted him to an outfielder and assigned him to the Rookie-Class Gulf Coast Red Sox, where he spent the entire 2002 season. In 2003 he played for the Short-Season Lowell Spinners, where he did not put up impressive numbers, batting on .237 with 53 strikeouts in 228 at-bats. He found his stride in 2004, when he dominated both Low- and Advanced-A ball, hitting .339 with Low-A Augusta in 433 at-bats, and .422 with the High-A Sarasota Red Sox in 83 at-bats.
Moss spent the next two years with the Portland Sea Dogs. He promoted to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox prior to the 2007 season. Moss made his major league debut on August 6, 2007 when Eric Hinske was placed on the bereavement list. He got his first major league hit off Scot Shields of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and scored on a wild pitch. He was sent back down to Pawtucket when Hinske returned on August 10. He returned to the team on September 1, when rosters expanded to 40 players.
Moss was a part of the 30-man roster that began the 2008 season in Japan. He was actually the Red Sox's starting right fielder on opening day, as J.D. Drew was scratched from the lineup with lower back tightness. During the game he hit his first major league home run off of Oakland Athletics closer Huston Street to tie the game, which eventually allowed the Red Sox to win 6-5 in 10 innings. Moss was optioned back to Pawtucket following the two-game series, on March 26.
Moss has spent the 2008 season swapping time with Chris Carter between first base and right field.
On July 31, Moss was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, along with Craig Hansen in the trade that sent Manny Ramírez to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Jason Bay to the Red Sox.
In 2011 he played in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league organization, and was called up to the big league club on September 16 after playing for the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the International League Championship series. He became a free agent on October 18. He was hitless in six at-bats for the Phillies.
On December 1, 2011, Moss signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics. Playing in Class AAA, Moss considered retiring from baseball so that he could return to Georgia and work as a firefighter. On June 6, 2012, nine days before Moss could opt out of his contract, the Athletics promoted Moss to the major leagues. Moss struggled in his first five games, but hit five home runs in the next four games. He only had 5 home runs in his previous 4 years. Moss earned his third career walk-off by hitting a single, allowing Yoenis Cespedes to score, against the New York Yankees on July 20. Moss again earned another walk-off, this time with a home run, in the bottom of the 10th inning on September 29 against the Seattle Mariners.
Moss batting for the Oakland Athletics in 2012
In 2012, Moss teamed up with Chris Carter for a first base platoon. He posted a .291/.358/.596 line with 21 home runs, which was third on the team behind Cespedes (23 home runs) and Josh Reddick (32 home runs), in 265 at-bats. He received honors for a 2012 platoon player of the year award by Zachery D. Rymer (MLB Lead Writer). On April 30, 2013, Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Barry Enright surrendered a two-run walk-off home run to Moss in the nineteenth inning. The home run (Moss' second of the night), which ended the longest game in Athletics history, took place over six and a half hours after the first pitch, which was thrown by the Athletics' Dan Straily 7:05PM PT the previous day. Moss had an overall good 2013 season hitting .256 with 30 homers and 87 RBIs.
Moss had a hot start to the 2014 season with a .265 BA, 23 home runs,and 71 RBIs (only behind A's teammate third baseman Josh Donaldson). In addition to this, Moss had 3 grand slams through July 24 (one each against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros). Along with several teammates, Moss represented the Oakland Athletics at the 2014 All-Star Game in Minneapolis.
Moss hit two home runs, one being a two-run no doubter to right field in the top of the first inning, the other a three-run blast to deep center during the top of the sixth in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game against the Kansas City Royals. Moss's 5 RBI night set a new record for the Athletics for most RBI's in a single postseason game, but it wasn't enough to secure victory for the A's as the Royals won 9-8.
On December 8, 2014, the Athletics traded Moss to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Joe Wendle