Chris Pettit was the 582nd player taken in the 2006 MLB Entry Draft. He was selected in the 19th round. In 2003, as a freshman at Loyola Marymount, he had a great year. He hit .328/.403/.476 with 2 HR, 29 RBI, 36 R, 18 2B, 2 3B, and 17 SB in 19 attempts. In 2004, he regressed by hitting .272/.380/.384 with 2 HR, 21 RBI, 29 R, 7 2B, 2 3B, and 4 SB in just 6 attempts. In 2005, he really broke out with a great season. He batted .329/.419/.553 with 9 HR, 44 RBI, 62 R, 20 2B, 1 3B, and 21 SB in 28 attempts. In his senior season, 2006, he batted .281/.360/.456 with 5 HR, 38 RBI, 44 R, 19 2B, 2 3B, and 15 SB in 17 attempts. In his entire college career, he grounded into only eleven (11) double plays. Shows how quick he truly is.

On August 9th of this year, he was named Angels Organizational Player of the Month for July after hitting .383 with 8 HR, 37 RBI, 30 R, and 9 SB during the month. It marked the second time he was named the Angels Organizational Player of the Month. The first time occurred in May, where he batted .374 with 2 HR, 13 RBI, 20 R, and 14 2B in 27 games.

Last year for Orem in the Rookie League, he got off to a hot start. He finished the season by batting .338/.446/.569 with 7 HR, 54 RBI, 41 R, 25 2B, 3 3B, and 5 SB in just 67 games (225 ABs). He also walked 31 times while striking out just 47 times. Amazing discipline for a first year player in the minors. He was also hit by a pitch 14 times in Orem and grounded into just five (5) double plays while there.

He started off 2007 in Cedar Rapids. He batted .346/.429/.579 with 9 HR, 41 RBI, 47 R, 24 2B, 1 3B, and 17 SB while walking 23 times compared to 41 strikeouts. He was also hit by a pitch 12 times in Cedar Rapids and grounded into just four (4) double plays. He did that in just 64 games (228 ABs). He got called up to Rancho Cucamonga towards the end of June. In his time in Rancho Cucamonga, he has batted .355/.437/.585 with 9 HR, 48 RBI, 44 R, 17 2B, 1 3B, and 12 SB while walking 27 times compared to just 32 strikeouts. He's done so in just 50 games (200 ABs). Thankfully, at least for him, he's only been hit by a pitch three (3) times so far at Rancho Cucamonga since his call-up there. He's also grounded into three (3) double plays there.

He may stand 6'0" and weigh 193 pounds. He may be from nearby Pasadena. He may be a right-handed speed demon who has considerable power, thus comparing him to a more powerful Reggie Willits by the time he makes into the majors. He may be 22 years old, but tomorrow he will be 23 years old. For his birthday is August 15th and I was just thinking that it would be nice to acknowledge his birthday since he may be our best player in the minors this season. It's even more of a surprise when you see that he has actually gotten better with each promotion that he has received in the minors. He's currently playing center field at Rancho Cucamonga, by the way. With last night's 0-4, he dropped his average down to .350 while also grounding into a double play. His fourth while at Rancho Cucamonga. However, he did have an outfield assist.

So, I'm here to give an early Happy Birthday salute to Chris Pettit. You, my friend, have earned it.