Joshua Wayne Rabe (born October 15, 1978)[1] is a former Major League Baseball outfielder with the Minnesota Twins and former head baseball coach for Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois.[2] He is currently the athletic director for Quincy University.[3]

Josh Rabe
Quincy Hawks
Outfielder / Coach / Athletic Director
Born: (1978-10-15) October 15, 1978 (age 46)
Quincy, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 17, 2006, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
May 9, 2007, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
Batting average.250
Home runs3
Runs batted in9
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Quincy University

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Rabe played baseball, basketball and football at Unity High School in Mendon, Illinois, where he later graduated. He'd received multiple college offers to play football and basketball, but the only school interested in him as a baseball player was Division II Quincy University,[4] where he earned Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 1998, and in 1999, was named to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference team and was the GLVC Player of the Year.[5] He's the school's all-time leader in hits (212), doubles (48) and runs (170). He's second all-time in home runs (32) and third in batting average (.377) and runs batted in (147).[6] With Rabe, the Hawks were 104–54, made the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and won the GLVC title in 2000.

Minor leagues

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Rabe was drafted by the Twins in the eleventh round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. In his first professional season, Rabe batted .221 with a .977 fielding percentage for the Elizabethton Twins. A year later, with the Quad Cities River Bandits, he improved in both departments, batting .282 with six home runs and a .981 fielding percentage while playing all three outfield positions.

Rabe broke through in 2002 with the Fort Myers Miracle. In half a season in Fort Myers, he batted .340 with five home runs and 40 RBIs to be named to the Florida State League Western division All-Star team, and was promoted to the double A New Britain Rock Cats. In 2006, with the Rochester Red Wings, Rabe earned his third minor league All-Star nod, and a promotion up to the Twins. While with Rochester, he also volunteered his time at a clinics at Penfield Little League.

Minnesota Twins

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Rabe made his major league debut for the Twins on July 17, 2006, as a pinch runner for Jason Kubel in the eighth inning at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.[7] He recorded his first Major League hit the following day against Edwin Jackson of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[8]

Rabe recorded a three hit game July 27, 2006, against the Chicago White Sox, going 3-for-5 with three singles.[9] Perhaps the finest game of his brief major league career occurred against the Detroit Tigers two days later, when Rabe went 2-for-3, hitting his first major league home run (a two run shot off Nate Robertson), and recorded four put outs in left field.[10]

For the season, Rabe batted .286 with three home runs and seven RBIs. He started the 2007 season with the Twins, but a shoulder injury limited Rabe to only fourteen games, in which he batted .194 with no home runs and only two RBIs. He was released at the end of the season.

Camden Riversharks

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The Baltimore Orioles and Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Baseball League both showed interest in Rabe, but he eventually ended up signing with the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League on March 31, 2008.[11] He batted .361 with six home runs and thirty RBIs during his time with Camden before back injuries forced him into early retirement on June 24, 2008.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Josh Rabe Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
  2. ^ "RABE RETURNS TO HAWKS; NAMED HEAD COACH". Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  3. ^ "Josh Rabe Announced as Next Athletic Director". Quincy University Athletics. February 5, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "Q&A with Josh Rabe, Rochester Red Wings Outfielder". Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  5. ^ "Quincy University Baseball Hawks Honors". Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  6. ^ "Quincy University Sports". September 2, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
  7. ^ "Minnesota Twins 6, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3". baseball-reference.com. July 17, 2006.
  8. ^ "Minnesota Twins 8, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1". baseball-reference.com. July 18, 2006.
  9. ^ "Minnesota Twins 7, Chicago White Sox 4". baseball-reference.com. July 26, 2006.
  10. ^ "Detroit Tigers 8, Minnesota Twins 6". baseball-reference.com. July 29, 2006.
  11. ^ "Rabe finds a new home in independent league". Quincy Herald Whig. March 28, 2008. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008.
  12. ^ "Josh Rabe retires from Baseball". June 25, 2008.
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