Meet The Athletics

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Due to the frequently rotating roster of the Oakland Athletics, I have decided to compose a short bio of some of the players that may be unknown to the masses. You never know - you might read one of these bios and find a new favorite player...Or you might think to yourself "Wow - how can I get those 2 minutes of my life back?" Either way, today I'd like you to meet: Right Fielder Travis Buck...

Travis George Buck was born on November 18, 1983 and hails from Richland, Washington. Since I can't seem to find any interesting tidbits about his childhood, I'll just assume that he grew up doing whatever kids living in Washington do - riding his bike in the rain, drinking coffee, listening to grunge music, cursing the Sonics owners, ignoring the Mariners (hmm...that sounds familiar), etc.

Moving on...

Buck was drafted by the Mariners in 2002, but he didn't sign with them. Instead, he attended college at Arizona State University. I'm guessing he was tired of his hair frizzing during the rainy Washington winters...And springs...And autumns. He received a few honors during his college career, including being named a Pac-10 Conference All-Star in 2004 and 2005.

Buck was then drafted by the A's in 2005. He spent a couple of years in the minors, and made his debut in the majors last year. In fact, Travis George Buck was such a badass, he didn't spend any time in Triple-A. Either that, or the A's needed him due to the 8 million injuries on the team. Buck showed flashes of a possible rookie of the year candidate last year, but - like most of the Oakland roster last year- he kept getting hurt. He played 82 games, batting .288 with 7 home runs.

According to the projected lineup on the A's website, it looks like Buck will be batting leadoff. However, that could change if the A's end up trading for Coco Crisp. If Buck can stay healthy this year, I think he'll be a valuable asset for the A's. He probably won't be an MVP candidate, but he's decent at the plate and his defense is pretty solid. Not to mention he has some of the loveliest locks in the majors.


Seriously...I'd like to see your hair hold a curl like that...