Austin Ryan Kearns (born May 20, 1980 in Lexington, Kentucky) is a Major League Baseball player. He currently plays right field for the Washington Nationals. After a stellar career at Lafayette High School, he was offered a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Florida. However, he decided to sign with the Cincinnati Reds after being selected seventh overall in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft.
| Austin Kearns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Washington Nationals – No. 25 | |
| Right field | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| April 17, 2002, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Career statistics (through 2006) | |
| Batting average | .265 |
| Home runs | 79 |
| Slugging average | .463 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Former teams | |
After just three seasons in the Reds' minor league system, he made his MLB debut on April 17, 2002. He is known as one of the best fielding outfielders in the National League. He throws and bats right-handed. His 2005 salary was $930,000. 2006 is an important season for Kearns as he has never played more than 112 games without succumbing to injury.
Kearns was traded to the Nationals on July 13, 2006 along with Felipe Lopez and Ryan Wagner from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris, and Daryl Thompson.
On September 23, 2006, playing against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, Kearns and first baseman Nick Johnson collided while making a sliding attempt to catch a fly ball. Kearns originally remained in the game relatively unhurt, but was removed shortly after play resumed by Manager Frank Robinson. Kearns was replaced by Ryan Church, who played in Kearns's spot for most of the rest of the season. Kearns suffered severe bruising down his left side as well as soreness. Johnson sustained a broken femur and underwent surgery that night to repair his injuries.
On May 12, 2007, in a game at home against the Florida Marlins, Kearns hit a bases-empty inside-the-park home run, the first ever for a Nationals player.
Nicknamed Austin Powers after the Mike Myers character, he also goes by "Ears" and "Darth Kearns".
External links
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