Cliff Floyd

Cliff Floyd
File:AAAA9427 Cliff Floyd.jpg Floyd batting for the Rays on September 22, 2008
Left fielder / Designated Hitter
Born: (1972-12-05) December 5, 1972 Chicago, Illinois
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 18, 1993, for the Montreal Expos
Last MLB appearance
June 17, 2009, for the San Diego Padres
MLB statistics
Batting average	.278
Home runs	233
Runs batted in	865
Teams
Montreal Expos (1993–1996) Florida Marlins (1997–2002) Montreal Expos (2002) Boston Red Sox (2002) New York Mets (2003–2006) Chicago Cubs (2007) Tampa Bay Rays (2008) San Diego Padres (2009)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2001) World Series champion (1997)

Cornelius Clifford Floyd, Jr. (born December 5, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and designated hitter, and is also currently a co-host on Sirius XM Radio.

Early years

File:Cliff Floyd warmup.jpg

Floyd with the Mets

Floyd was born to parents Cornelius Clifford Floyd, Sr. and Olivia Floyd. After spending 13 years as an only child, Floyd was joined by brother Julius. Sister Shanta was later adopted when the Floyds noticed her as a six-year-old classmate of Julius' who had been troublesome for her then adoptive parents. The three siblings were raised in Markham, Illinois, a small suburb south west of Chicago. Floyd's father, a former Marine, worked double shifts at a U.S. Steel plant in Chicago to allow the family to live in a safe and stable neighborhood.

At Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois, Floyd was a three-sport star in baseball, football, and basketball. In basketball, he led his high school to the Class AA Sectional Playoffs. In leading his team to the Illinois state baseball championship as a senior, he hit .508 with 130 RBI during the final two years of his high school prep career. He was heavily recruited by Arizona State University, Stanford, and Creighton University, but when the Montreal Expos drafted him as the 14th pick in the 1st round of the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft, Floyd made no hesitation and chose to go to the minor leagues.

Major league career

File:Lefebvre & Floyd.JPG

Floyd talking to hitting coach Jim Lefevbre for the San Diego Padres on March 5, 2009.

Floyd made his major league debut in 1993, playing in 10 games with the Expos. In 1997, Floyd was traded from the Expos to the Florida Marlins for Dustin Hermanson and Joe Orsulak. In 1998, Floyd earned a starting position in the Marlins' outfield. In 2000, in 420 at-bats, he hit .300 with 22 home runs and 91 RBI.

In 2002, Floyd was traded from the Marlins back to the Expos, with Claudio Vargas, Wilton Guerrero, and cash, for Graeme Lloyd, Mike Mordecai, Carl Pavano, Justin Wayne, and Donald Levinski. Later that year, Floyd was traded from the Expos to the Boston Red Sox for Sun-Woo Kim and Seung Song.

In 2003, Floyd was signed by the New York Mets. He played well for the Mets, but was hampered by injuries in 2003 and 2004. However, Floyd stayed healthy in 2005 and responded with a career-high and team-leading 34 home runs. The next year, though, Floyd was once again limited by injuries and only played in 97 games during New York's division-winning year. He caught the division-clinching out for the Mets, but was slowed by injuries in the playoffs for New York, only recording twelve at-bats in the his team's ten postseason games.

In 2007, Floyd agreed to a deal with his hometown Chicago Cubs for the 2007 season, with an option for 2008. Floyd missed nine games in August 2007 to mourn the death of his father, Cornelius. He returned on August 21, 2007, to play the San Francisco Giants, where he hit a game-winning RBI.

On December 14, 2007, Floyd signed a $3 million, one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. Floyd spent 2008 platooning for the Rays at DH against righties.

On February 5, 2009, Floyd agreed to a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres.

On October 8, 2009, the Padres released Floyd.

Broadcasting career

On February 22, 2010, Floyd accepted a broadcasting job with Fox Sports Florida.

Floyd also appears on NBC Sports Talk on the new NBC Sports Network and on MLB Network.

Floyd made his debut in the broadcasting booth for FOX Sports Baseball Night in America on June 21, 2014.

In 2015, Floyd joined SportsNet New York where he would be an analyst for New York Mets games. On March 8, 2015, Floyd broadcast his first Mets game, a spring training game against the Boston Red Sox on WPIX-TV, with Gary Cohen doing play-by-play.

Personal life

Floyd lives in Florida with his longtime companion Maryanne Manning, the couple's two children, his mother, and the two children of his sister Shanta. Shanta died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.

See also

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Floyd Interview 6-30-06
• [1]

Honorary titles
Preceded by Melvin Nieves 1992	Youngest Player in the National League 1993	Succeeded by Ismael Valdez 1994