Danny Ardoin

[William Malone]

Daniel Wayne Ardoin was born on July 8, 1974 in Ville Platte, Louisiana.

The Oakland Athletics selected him in round five of the 1995 MLB Draft. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Mario Valdéz at the deadline in 2000, and made his Major League debut just three days later.

Ardoin was hitless in his first game for the Twins, but he drew three walks and scored a run. His first big league hit was a two run homer against Tanyon Sturtze of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on August 10, 2000. He delivered a three run double during a five run eighth inning rally in another game against the Devil Rays on August 23, 2000. Minnesota wound up winning 7-2 after trailing 2-0 through six. Ardoin finished the season going 4-for-32 (.125) with five RBI and eight walks during his 15 games with the Twins.

He spent all of 2001 in Triple-A, batting .255 with five home runs and 37 RBI. Adoring was sharing time at catcher with Matthew LeCroy and Javier Valentín, while A.J. Pierzynski and Tom Prince handled most of the Major League catching duties. He elected for free agency after the season, and signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals.

Ardoin didn't reach the big leagues again until 2004 with the Texas Rangers, and that was just a six game cup of coffee. He played a career high 80 games for the Colorado Rockies in 2005, slashing .229/.320/.362 with six home runs and 22 RBI. Ardoin split 2006 with the Rockies and Texas Rangers. His final Major League stop was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008.

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