#4 A.J. Pollock 2006-07 Baseball Roster
OF/INF
MINOR LEAGUE PAGE
Key Honors & Awards (Entering 2016 Season)
– 2015 NL All-Star
– 2015 Rawlings NL Gold Glove Winner
What Was Said About Pollock Leaving ND
Tremendous athlete, versatile defensive player with great hands, strong arm and classic fielding instincts … clutch performer who can hit for power, with line drive swing and quick bat … one of team’s fastest base runners, also making good breaks on ball in outfield … could legitimately play at any defensive position on the field.
JUNIOR SEASON (2009):
could become the second ND player in history to ever lead the team in batting for three consecutive years.
Named to the Wallace Award Watch List, named preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball (second team), Ping!Baseball.com (third team) and RecruitingCloser.com (third team) … listed as the 39th overall prospect and 16th collegiate prospect for the 2009 MLB Draft by Baseball America … ranked as the seventh-best prospect from the Cape Cod League by Baseball America following his Most Valuable Player season for the Falmouth Commodores in 2008Â … led the league in hits (61), doubles (15) and slugging percentage (.556) and ranked second in batting average at .377 and extra-base hits with 20 … also ranked third in on-base percentage (.455) and runs scored (35) … started in center field as a West Division All-Star, going 2-for-3 at the plate, including a solo home run.
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2008): Played center field for much of 2007 fall practice, including in the Blue-Gold World Series with Blue team (went 3-for-8, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 3 BB, 2 SB) … named all-BIG EAST first team … rated by Baseball America before ’08 season as league’s second-best 2009 MLB prospect and best pure hitter … started 55 games for the Irish … one of three players and only returning one to start every game last season … batted .352 (76-for-216) with four home runs and 42 RBI … added 49 runs scored, 15 doubles, three triples, 24 walks, three sacrifice bunts, seven sacrifice flies and 28 stolen bases … led the team in batting, hits (76), doubles (tied), total bases (109), sacrifice flies, stolen bases, at bats (216), games played (tied, 55) and games started (tied, 55) … ranked second on the squad in slugging percentage (.505), second in runs scored, second in RBI, third in triples, third in onbase percentage (.414) and tied for third in home runs … became first Irish player to lead team in hitting, stolen bases and strikeout ratio since Steve Stanley in 2002 … two-time and back-to-back BIG EAST player of the week (Apr. 14 and 21) … ranked tied for fourth in the BIG EAST in sacrifice flies, fourth in stolen bases and 15th in hitting … ranked 12th in the NCAA in toughest to strikeout (21.7 at-bats per K), 33rd in the NCAA in both total stolen bases (28) and stolen bases per game (0.51) and 99th in the NCAA in sacrifice flies … situationally, he led the team in batting with runners in scoring position (.413), hitting with two outs (.397) … ranked second on the team in batting versus righthanded pitchers (.379), second in hitting with runners on base (.336), third in batting with the bases empty (.376), third in two-out RBI (19) and third in successful advancing of runners (.471) … also reached base when leading off an inning nearly 62% of the time (19-for- 31) … made only three errors in 121 fielding chances (.975 fielding percentage) … led the team in multiplehit games (25, seven more than any other Irish player) and tied for third in multi-RBI (nine) games … had 16 two-hit games, six three-hit games and three four-hit affairs … had six games with two RBI and three games with three RBI … made 44 starts in center field and 11 starts in right field … hit primarily in the #2 (11) and #3 spots (44) in the lineup … hit .320 in BIG EAST regular-season games (33-for-103, 22 R, 21 RBI, HR, 6 2B, 13 BB, 3 HBP, 6 Ks, 8 SAC, 12 SB) … ranked third in BIG EAST games only in sacrifice flies (four) and third in stolen bases (12) … recorded individual singlegame hits in at-bats (tied, 7 against USF on May 16), runs scored (tied, 5 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Mar. 26) and stolen bases (3, three different times) … opened the season batting in the two-hole over the first 11 games and batted just .298 (14-for-47) with three extra-base hits and six RBI … hit third the rest of the season (44 games) and batted .367 (62-for-169) with 44 runs scored, 19 extra-base hits and 36 RBI … opened the season just 3-for-17 (.176) over his first four games, but batted .367 (73-for-199) over the last 51 games … season highlights included the following games:went 4- for-6 with two runs scored and RBI against Maine on Mar. 4 … stole three bases and went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI against St. Bonaventure on Mar. 2 … recorded back-to-back two-hit games against Texas A&M (Mar. 7) and South Alabama (Mar. 8) … went 4- for-9 with a double, RBI and two runs scored in the two games … recorded a five-game hitting streak from Mar. 14 (Buffalo) through Mar. 20 (Georgetown) … opened and closed the hitting streak with a pair of three-hit games … went 3-for-5 with a double, home run (inside the park), run scored and two RBI against Buffalo … went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBI against Georgetown … batting average climbed to .413 on Apr. 15 … over a 13-game stretch between Mar. 26 and Apr. 15, registered nine multi-hit games, including six outings with at least three hits … hit a robust .551 (27-for-49) with four doubles, three triples, two home runs, 14 RBI and 22 runs scored over the 13 games … had four hits apiece against Wisconsin- Milwaukee on Mar. 26 and Cincinnati on Mar. 30 … scored season-high five runs versus Wisconsin- Milwaukee as well … took a .400 batting average in the month of May … recorded five straight games with two hits against West Virginia (Apr. 19 and 20), Chicago State (Apr. 22), IPFW (Apr. 23) and St. John’s (Apr. 25) … added another multi-hit game (the sixth in seventh games) against St. John’s on Apr. 27 … registered final two multi-hit games on May 12 (Western Michigan) and May 16 (USF) … swiped a season-high tying three bases against USF on May 15 … picked up hits in 39 of Notre Dame’s 55 games.
FRESHMAN SEASON (2007): Named MVP of the 2006 Blue-Gold World Series, with victorious Gold (5-for-9, 5 RBI, 3 R, HR, 2B, sacrifice bunt, 2-2 SB, K, 0 Es; 2-run blast in clinching game-3, 8-3) … capped stellar debut season by earning third team all-BIG EAST honors and being named a `07 Freshman All- American by Collegiate Baseball and PingBaseball.com … fourth freshman ever to lead ND in batting avg. (.372), third-best ever by an Irish freshman and best since Scott Sollmann hit .404 in his `94 rookie season (Eric Danapilis hit .429 as a freshman in `90) … other freshmen to lead ND in batting include Danapilis, Lilley (.355; `05) and Pete Schmidt (.367; `71) … finished fourth on BIG EAST batting charts, trailing only senior outfielders Dave Williams (Rutgers) and Isaiah Howes (Louisville) and RU junior All-America shortstop Todd Frazier … joined Louisville All-America CF Boomer Whiting as only players in BIG EAST with 70-plus hits (73), 30-plus walks (32), double-digit stolen bases (11) and 10-plus sacrifice bunts (10) … finished first (10) or second (8) on `07 Irish in 18 categories – including team-best batting, walks, SBs, total bases (93), hits (73, tied with Lilley) and multi-hit games (26), while ranking second in slugging (.474), on-base (.464), runs (39) and sac. bunts … led team in batting vs. LHPs (.509) and with runners on base (.422)/in scoring position (.406) … his .308 batting with 2-outs was second-best on team (tied for team-high in 2-out RBI, with 11) … finished second on `07 team in OPS (.938 on-base plus slugging), batting vs. RHPs (.322) and pct. of runners advanced (61%), third in home runs (3), triples (2) and multi-RBI games (8), fourth in RBI (28), and fifth in doubles (7), HBPs (3) and leadoff on-base pct. (.333) … his +17 plate-discipline ratio (32 BB+ 3 HBP-18 Ks) trailed only Lilley’s +30 … compiled .904 fielding pct., with 19 errors (no Es over final 10 GP) … ranked among BIG EAST top-10 in overall batting (4th), OB (7th), BB (9th) and sac. bunts (10th), also fourth in league batting avg.(.386), third in hits (39) and sixth in OB (.457) during conference action (his other stats in BE games: 17 R, 14 RBI, HR, 3B, 7 2B, 13 BB, HBP, 11 Ks, 4 SAC, 4-6 SB) … joined Louisville LHP Justin Marks and SJU LF Kemp as only freshmen named all-BIG EAST … 10th ND freshman ever tabbed all-BIG EAST (Lilley and Brant Ust are only other left side infielders) … made 47 of 52 starts at third base, plus five early starts at first (March 3-12) … hit 45 times in 2-hole, with handful of starts as #3 (2), #6 (3) and #7 (2) batter … he and Lilley (.371) were one of league’s top hitting duos and made ND only team with both left side infielders on all-BIG EAST team … hit team-best .484 in first inning (15-for-31, 8 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 8 BB, K, 7 SAC) and team-leading .500 in third (15-30, 10 R, 4 RBI, HR, 3B, 2 2B, 5 BB, 2 SAC, GDP) … batted .308 in Feb./March, .328 in April, team-best .400 in May … hit 110 points higher at home (.426, 24 R, 17 RBI, 16 BB, 2 HR, 3B, 5 2B, 2 HBP, 11 Ks, 4 SAC, 5-6 SB, 10 Es, 26 GP) than in all road games (.316) … hit team’s first home run of season (in opener vs. Prairie View, in San Antonio) and added a single in second AB, but then had five-game hit slump … ended slump by batting 3- for-4 (RBI, 3 R, BB) in 17-6 win over #7 Nebraska (at Stetson) … his top Spring Break games: 3-for-4 vs. Duquesne (3 RBI, 2 R, SAC, SF; 14-3; in Clearwater) and 4-for-9 in pair of wins over Dayton (2 RBI, 3 R, BB, 2 SB; 11-4/5-2, at Florida Gulf Coast) … fifth ND freshman ever to post five-hit game (5-for-6 vs. Western Michigan; 2 RBI, 2 R, solo HR; 17-9), with others to do so including Lilley (`05), current fifth-year catcher Sean Gaston (`04), Scott Sollmann (`94) and 1B Joe Binkiewicz (`89) … went a month (and later seven weeks) without back-to-back hitless games … had slow .242 start in BIG EAST play (4-for-13 in USF series, 2- for-7 at Pittsburgh, 2-for-13 at Cincinnati) but sizzled over final six series – batting .456 (31-for-68) in that 18-game span, vs. Georgetown (5-12, RBI, 2 R, 2B, BB, SAC),West Virginia (6-11, 6 RBI, 5 R, HR, 2 2B, 4 BB, SB), Rutgers (5-12, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, SB), Seton Hall (6-12, 4 R, BB, SB), Louisville (3-8, RBI, 3 BB) and UConn (6-13, 2 RBI, 3 R, 3B, 2 2B) … had no doubles in first 31 games but seven over final 25 GP (plus nine game hit streak; April 28-May 12) … his strong series against WVU and midweek games vs. Toledo and Purdue earned spot on BIG EAST weekly honor roll for April 16-22 (8-for-19, 6 RBI, 7 R, HR, 2 2B, SB) … helped Irish rally from 5-0 deficit to edge Toledo, 8-7 (2-for-4, 2 R, BB) … hit 3-for-3 with 6 RBI in 17-6 win over WVU (3 R, 3-run HR, 2B, 3 BB) … made timely plays in 15-3 opener at Rutgers (2-for-5, 2 RBI, R, 2B, SAC) and thrilling 6-4 comeback in series finale (2-for-3, R, 2B, BB, SB) … went 3-for-4 in 6-4 win over SHU (2 R, SB) and closed regular season vs. UConn with two of his eight 3-hit games, including 5-4 win that clinched postseason spot (3-for-4, RBI, 2 R, 3B) … posted his first game with two doubles, in regular-season finale vs. UConn (3-for-5, RBI, R) … named second team all-New England Collegiate Baseball League in summer of `07, as centerfielder for wood-bat Vermont Mountaineers … led Mountaineers in batting avg. (.348; 4th in league), doubles (15; league-best), hits (47), runs (29; 5th in league) and stolen bases (13-of-14) while ranking second in slugging pct. (.481), third in RBI (20) and on-base pct. (.419), and fourth in walks (17) … also had a home run, eight Ks and four errors in 37 games (35 starts) … helped Mountaineers win NECBL tournament (11-8, 3-0 final series vs. Newport Gulls).
PREP & PERSONAL: Capped stellar career as four-year starting shortstop at RHAM HS by receiving most votes ever for Gatorade player of the year in Connecticut (since `74) … tabbed by coaches association for `06 state player of the year, after batting .462 as team captain (4 HR, 27 RBI, 34 R, 15 SB; also 9 IP, 1.62 ERA, 17 Ks) … also named RHAM 2006 athlete of the year, team MVP and all-conference (played in senior all-star game and Conn.-Mass. all-star game) … led team to conference titles in final three seasons … qualified for `05 Team One National Showcase (Las Vegas) … all-conference and all-state as a junior (.386, 15 RBI, 22 R, HR, 2 3B, 6 2B, 10 BB, 4 Ks, 6 SB, 20 GP) … all-conference on `04 team that won regional and state titles (.489, 18 R, 3 3B, 4 2B, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 2 Ks, 16 GP) … team defensive player of the year in `03, `04 and `05 … first RHAM freshman ever to start at shortstop (.317, 12 RBI, 2B, 9 R, 3 BB, K, 3 SB, 19 GP) … `05 American Legion all-star and winner of Zone 7 Sportsmanship Award, after batting .464 with 31 RBI in 43 wood-bat games (4 HR, 4 3B, 18 2B, 28 R, 20 BB, 8 Ks, 32 SB) … `04 American Legion all-star (.472, 17 RBI, 3 3B, 12 2B, 44 R, 18 BB, 3 Ks, 23 SB, 44 GP, 34- 10 record) … youngest player selected for `03 American Legion “Futures” all-stars (.418, 23 RBI, 46 GP, 3B, 9 2B, 26 R, 8 BB, 2 Ks, 17 SB) … made top-10 list at `05 Team One East Showcase … one of 17 all-time ND baseball monogram winners from Connecticut, among them P/OF Jean Dubuc (Waterbury) – a member of the 1918 Boston Red Sox (World Series champs) – and RHP Chuck Symeon (Stamford/St. Basil’s Prep), who shut out Texas in the `57 College World Series, plus recent record-setting RHP Alan Walania (Derby/Notre Dame HS) … inherited #4 jersey worn previously by SS Greg Lopez … played varsity soccer as freshman … member of National Honor Society… received academic achievement awards … plays the guitar … volunteered at `03-’05 Winter Special Olympics, `04 Summer Special Olympics … father Allen Pollock played rugby at Boston College … born Dec. 5, 1987 … son of Allen and Karen Pollock … full name is Allen Lorenz Pollock … sociology major, in College of Arts and Letters … entered 2008 fall semester with 3.116 cumulative GPA (3.53 in `07 fall term).