Daniel Nava

High School and College baseball
He played baseball at St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California and received his Psychology degree from Santa Clara University. His freshman year in high school he was 4'8" and 70 pounds and by his senior year, his stature was 5'5" and 150 pounds. [1]

Daniel was offered an opportunity to walk-on to the Santa Clara University baseball team but failed to make to the team as a player and became the team manager.[2]

He left Santa Clara after two years because he could no longer afford the tuition.[2] He then enrolled in the College of San Mateo (junior college).[3] He gave the baseball team a shot only on the encouragement of an old friend he happened to run into at a gym.[2] While at the College of San Mateo, he became a Junior College All-American. Later Santa Clara wanted him back[4] and eventually offered him a full scholarship.[5]

He hit .395 with an on-base percentage of .494 in his lone season with the Broncos, both tops in the West Coast Conference, and earned first-team All-WCC honors. He stole 15 bases without being caught, and he had more walks (31) than strikeouts (29).[2]

[edit] Minor League Professional baseball career
When Daniel Nava graduated, he went undrafted and signed with the Golden Baseball League team; Chico Outlaws. But even the Outlaws cut him after a tryout but brought him back a year later to fill a void.[2] In 2007 Nava hit 12 home runs for the Outlaws, with a.371 batting average and a 1.100 OPS.[6] Nava was named the number one independent league prospect by Baseball America in 2007.[6] Red Sox's assistant director of pro scouting, Jared Porter, recommended the Sox sign Nava from the Chico Outlaws in 2007.[7] The Red Sox paid the Outlaws $1 for the rights to Nava, with an agreement that the Outlaws would recieve an additional $1,499 if the Red Sox kept Nava after spring training.[8]

In 2008, he played low Single-A Lancaster. He hit .341 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI in 85 games. His On-base plus slugging percentage was .948.[9] In 2009, he hit .339 at high Single-A Salem before being called up to Double-A Portland where he batted .364 with four home runs and an exceptional 25-to-12 walk-to-strikeout ratio. His OPS was .991.[10]

In 2010, Daniel Nava spent two months in AAA.[11] At that time he was quoted as saying "I know I have the talent and the ability, and I can keep playing at the next level," he said. "If I didn't think I could, I would have been like, ‘You know what? There’s no point.’ … I definitely thought I could perform and perform well. That’s why I kept on going. Quitting’s just not much of an option for me."[2]

[edit] Major League Professional baseball career
Nava made his Major League Baseball debut with the Boston Red Sox on June 12, 2010 at Fenway Park as the starting left fielder against the Philadelphia Phillies. He was called up to help with the team's outfield situation, with two on the disabled list and one being sent down for more playing time. On the first pitch he saw, Nava hit a grand slam off Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton into the Red Sox bullpen. Nava is only the fourth player to have hit a grand slam in his first at-bat, following Bill Duggleby in 1898, Jeremy Hermida in 2005, and Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006. Nava is only the second player, after Kouzmanoff, to do so against the first pitch of his Major League career.[12] He is the tenth player in Red Sox history to hit a home run in his first plate appearance with the club; the first since Darnell McDonald did so on April 20, 2010 against the Texas Rangers.[3] Creighton Gubanich is the only other player in Red Sox history to hit a grand slam for his first big league hit however, it was not in Gubanich's first at-bat. Bill LeFebvre is the only other player in Red Sox history to hit a home run on the first pitch thrown to him in the big leagues, doing so June 10, 1938.