Former Gator Mark Kiger Added To Oakland's Playoff Roster
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 | Baseball
The Oakland A's selected former Gator All-American infielder Mark Kiger (LaJolla, Calif.) from Double-A Midland (Texas) and added him to their American League Championship Series roster on Monday night to replace the injured Mark Ellis. Ellis, who lettered at Florida from 1996-99, fractured his right index finger last Wednesday in his ninth-inning at-bat against Joe Nathan in Game 2 of the American League Division Series versus Minnesota. The A's completed a three-game sweep of the Twins and will next face the Detroit Tigers for a berth in the 2006 World Series.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for Mark," said sixth-year UF head coach Pat McMahon. "He is a hard-working, competitive young man who has been an asset to every club he has played for. Mark's senior year for us in 2002 was one of the top offensive seasons in college baseball history."
Kiger is making his first appearance on the A's 40-man roster, as he was originally selected in the fifth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft after a three-year stint with the Gators. In his final collegiate season, he hit .403 and led the Gators in hits (104), runs (90), walks (60) and on-base percentage (.522). Florida was 46-19 overall and advanced to the championship game of the 2002 NCAA Gainesville Regional, where Kiger was selected to the All-Tournament team at shortstop.
He split the 2006 season between Triple-A Sacramento and Double-A Midland and batted a combined .276 with nine home runs and 34 runs batted in over 119 games. Kiger hit .233 in 61 games with the River Cats before he was transferred to Midland on June 29. He batted .307 with six home runs and 20 RBI in 58 games with the Rockhounds.
Kiger's Career Statistics at Florida
| YEAR | AVG. | GP-GS | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB-ATT |
| 2000 | .314 | 67-67 | 280 | 78 | 88 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 57 | 54 | 49 | 22-33 |
| 2001 | .314 | 48-48 | 194 | 44 | 61 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 38 | 23 | 19-24 |
| 2002 | .403 | 65-65 | 258 | 90 | 104 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 55 | 60 | 24 | 11-13 |
| Totals | .346 | 180-180 | 732 | 212 | 253 | 35 | 9 | 21 | 143 | 152 | 96 | 52-70 |
-UF-
