Daniel Nava

A photo of Daniel Nava.

Daniel Nava (born February 22, 1983) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox.

High school and college baseball

Nava was born in Redwood City, California. He played baseball at St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California and received his Psychology degree from Santa Clara University. He was 4'8 and 70 lbs. in his freshman year in high school and grew to 5'5 and 150 lbs. by his senior year.

After an opportunity to walk-on to the Santa Clara University baseball team, he failed to make the team as a player and became the team equipment manager.

He left Santa Clara after two years because he could no longer afford the tuition. He then enrolled in the College of San Mateo (junior college). He tried out for the baseball team on the encouragement of an old friend he happened to run into at a gym. While at the College of San Mateo, he became a Junior College All-American. Later Santa Clara wanted him back and eventually offered him a full scholarship. He hit .395 with an on-base percentage of .494 in his lone season with the Broncos, both tops in the West Coast Conference, and earned first-team All-WCC honors. He stole 15 bases without being caught, and he had more walks (31) than strikeouts (29).

Minor League career

When Daniel Nava graduated, he went undrafted and signed with the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League. The Outlaws cut him after a tryout, only to bring him back a year later to fill a void. In 2007 Nava hit 12 home runs for the Outlaws, with a .371 batting average and a 1.100 OPS. Nava was named the number one independent league prospect by Baseball America in 2007. Red Sox's assistant director of pro scouting, Jared Porter, recommended the Sox sign Nava from the Chico Outlaws in 2007. The Red Sox paid the Outlaws $1 for the rights to Nava, with an agreement that the Outlaws would receive an additional $1,499 if the Red Sox kept Nava after spring training.

In 2008, he played for low Single-A Lancaster. He hit .341 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI in 85 games. His on-base plus slugging percentage was .948. In 2009, he hit .339 at high Single-A Salem before being called up to Double-A Portland where he batted .364 with four home runs and an exceptional 25-to-12 walk-to-strikeout ratio. His OPS was .991.

In 2010, Daniel Nava spent two months in AAA. At that time he was quoted as saying "I know I have the talent and the ability, and I can keep playing at the next level," he said. "If I didn't think I could, I would have been like, ‘You know what? There’s no point.’ … I definitely thought I could perform and perform well. That’s why I kept on going. Quitting’s just not much of an option for me."

Major League career

Nava made his Major League debut with the Boston Red Sox on June 12, 2010 at Fenway Park as the starting left fielder against the Philadelphia Phillies. He was called up to help with the team's outfield situation, with Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida on the disabled list and Josh Reddick optioned to the minor leagues for more playing time. On the first pitch he saw, Nava hit a grand slam off Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton into the Red Sox bullpen. Nava is only the fourth player to have hit a grand slam in his first at-bat, joining Bill Duggleby in 1898, Jeremy Hermida in 2005 and Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006. Nava is only the second player, after Kouzmanoff, to do so against the first pitch of his Major League career. He is the tenth player in Red Sox history to hit a home run in his first plate appearance with the club, the last being Darnell McDonald on April 20, 2010 against the Texas Rangers. Creighton Gubanich is the only other player in Red Sox history to hit a grand slam for his first big league hit; however, it was not in Gubanich's first Major League at-bat. Bill LeFebvre is the only other player in Red Sox history to hit a home run on the first pitch thrown to him in the big leagues, doing so June 10, 1938. Due to his outstanding debut, Nava continued to start for the Red Sox. On June 17, he had his first three-hit game, two of those hits being doubles, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nava managed to reach base safely in his first 10 MLB games.

Awards

• 2007 Independent Leagues Top Prospect (Baseball America)
• Red Sox ML Player of the Month (Aug/Sep 2009)

Personal life

Nava plays the guitar in his church with his brother on drums.

His father Don is a fitness instructor and a coach.

For the past three years, he has been leaving a ticket at every Pawtucket Red Sox home game for ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews.

See also

• Home run in first Major League at-bat

External links

• Career statistics and player information from ESPN, or Baseball-Reference

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