A look at Mud Hens second baseman Ryan Raburn.
Position: Second base
Height/Weight: 6-0, 185
Age: 24 (born April 17, 1981)
Hometown: Dover, Fla.
2005: After a slow start that saw his average hover around .190, Raburn is batting .264 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs. ... Hit .273 in May and is hitting .325 in June. ... Ranks second on the team with 27 extra-base hits, including 14 doubles and three triples. ... Has drawn 23 walks, third-best on the team.
Career: In his fourth full pro season, all in the Tigers' farm system. ... Played in 12 games for the Tigers last September, batting .138 with 15 strikeouts in 29 at-bats. ... Missed the first month last season with a dislocated finger, then started slowly with Double-A Erie. But he batted .367 after July 4 to finish with a .301 mark, 10th-best in the Eastern League, as well as career-bests of 16 home runs and 63 RBIs. ... Fell off an ATV before the 2002 season began, suffering a right hip strain that forced him to miss much of the season. ... Originally drafted in the 18th round by Tampa Bay in 1999, Raburn instead played at South Florida Junior College. ... Chosen by the Tigers in the fifth round of the 2001 draft. ... His brother, Johnny, plays in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
THE PLATE
Baseball player you admired growing up: My favorite baseball player ever was Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs. I grew up watching the Cubs growing up, and his nickname [Ryno] was the same as mine growing up.
Did you think about becoming another Sandberg when the Tigers moved you from third base to second? Yeah, a little bit. I wanted to be a big run-producer like him at second base. But the reason for the move was to find a position I am more comfortable at.
Favorite college football team: Florida Gators. I went there for a year, and that was the team I always watched.
If you could meet one player, dead or alive, who would it be? Ryne Sandberg. I'd probably ask him how he went about how he played the game and his work ethic. I'd just try to pick up pointers here and there.
Favorite CD/song: Any kind of country music. I listen to Gary Allan a lot.
What song is your walk-up music: Hank Williams Jr.'s "A Country Boy Can Survive."
Favorite city in the International League, other than Toledo: I'm going to say Louisville. The city and the area was very nice, and the Louisville bat company was there. And I got to see my buddy, Bobby Perez, who's an assistant coach at the University of Louisville.
If you were commissioner of baseball for a day, what would you do? I'd put myself in the big leagues [laughing]. Seriously, I like what they're doing about the steroids and stuff. The guys who use this stuff are taking advantage of guys who are doing it naturally and just trying to better themselves. I'd like to clean that up.
Favorite way to spend time away from the field: Relax during the season, but in the off-season I like to do a lot of hunting and fishing with my dad and my brother.
Favorite sports memory: That would have to be getting my first big-league hit off C.C. Sabathia. They said it was a double, but a lot of people thought it was a home run. I was just happy to get the hit, because it was an awesome thrill, and a lot of guys don't get to experience that.
Something nobody knows about you: A lot of people are surprised by how big my truck is. I drive a four-door, diesel Ford that's got about 10 inches of lift on it. Growing up, all I've been around is big trucks, and I told myself when I got the money I was going to get one.
- John Wagner
First Published June 26, 2005, 11:49 a.m.