Chris Başak, American baseball player
Christopher Joseph Başak, (born December 6, 1978 in North Platte, Nebraska) is an American former professional baseball infielder. During his career, he played in the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees organizations. Basak made five appearances in the major leagues in 2007 with the Yankees, going 0–for–1.
He attended Minooka High School in Minooka, Illinois, then went to college at the University of Illinois, where he played shortstop.
He was drafted in the 6th round (185th overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Mets. He hit .265 in his minor league career up until 2006, and had 161 stolen bases in 814 games. He mostly played shortstop. He signed with the Yankees in the 2006-07 off season, and in the following spring training he hit .311.
Capable of playing any infield position, Başak played left and right field for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, where he led the team in doubles and was second in stolen bases. He was called up to the Yankees on June 6, 2007. He saw his first action on June 9, pinch running for (and subsequently replacing) third baseman Alex Rodriguez. After playing sparingly, he was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 1, 2007 and replaced by Edwar Ramirez.
On July 27, he was called up from Triple-A, as Kei Igawa was optioned down. Başak was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on August 1. On August 15, he was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Andrew Brackman. On August 16, 2007 he was claimed off waivers by the Twins. He played for the Twins' Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings and Yankees' Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during the 2008 season. He got claimed off waivers by New York during the season. He has not played professionally since the end of the 2008 season.
1978Dec, 6
Chris Başak
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Events on 1978
- 11Feb
Aristotle
Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. - 27Apr
Watergate scandal
Former United States President Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes. - 25Jul
In vitro fertilisation
Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF. - 22Oct
Pope John Paul II
Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II. - 18Nov
Jim Jones
In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.