Welcome to Andrea's Ryan Klesko page!

"You're only in the game so long, why not play hard when you're here? I'm not here for style points--I'm out there to play hard." Ryan Klesko, when asked to describe his style of play. (Braves FAN Magazine, Vol. 33, Iss. 3)

Yes, I know, this page hasn't been updated much lately. Give me a little while to get everything up to date. I think I just haven't updated the Klesko pages because I'm still in denial that he's now a Padre :-) Anyway, here's a little bit of rambling from me about the trade, his "new" bio from the Padres website, and a couple of pictures from spring training. I'll get more Padres pictures added as I find them. Thank ya for being patient as I redo my site.

The Trade ... I admit that I was not a very happy person the day I heard about The Trade. It happened to be on the same day the whole John Rocker fiasco became public, so it was a very bad day to be a Braves fan. I'm not a John Rocker fan, never have been a John Rocker fan, and probably will never be a John Rocker fan. So instead of talking about that part of the news that day, I'll talk about the trade.

I was upset at the Braves for trading him -- he's my favorite player and one of the reasons I became a Braves fan in the first place. But I've decided now that nothing but good can come of the trade. Braves fans and the media never respected Ryan Klesko when he was a Brave -- he never got the credit he deserved, no matter how well he played. He was (unfairly) labeled as a platoon player who couldn't hit lefties and was a defensive liability. He never had a chance to prove all of that wrong in Atlanta. He's now the Padres everyday first baseman, and he should be able to prove all of those critics wrong in San Diego. Just look at the spring training he had -- his average was around .435, he only had one error, and he hit 4 home runs. And 3 of those home runs were off of left-handed pitchers. Looks like he's off to a good start to making the Braves regret trading him :-)

Here are some of my other Ryan Klesko Pages:

The Ryan Klesko Discussion List: I created a discussion list for Ryan at ONElist, and it's the only list out there dedicated to Ryan. The list now has it's own homepage -- visit and learn more about us; you can subscribe here as well.
The Ryan Klesko Webring: Linking some of the best Ryan Klesko pages out there! If you have a Ryan page, you can join the ring.
The Ryan Klesko Message Board: Stop by and share your opinions about Ryan, the Padres, the Braves, or baseball in general.
Andrea's Thumper Photo Gallery: Some of my favorite Klesko pictures, both obtained from the Internet and personally taken.
Andrea's Ryan Baseball Cards: I scanned some of my favorite Klesko baseball cards one day when I was bored.

(Links to other Ryan Klesko pages are below the bio.)

(The bio and career highlights are from the official Padres website)

#30 -- 1B/OF

Bats: Left

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 220

Age: 28

Born: June 12, 1971 in Westminster, CA

Residence: Covington, GA

Service: 6 years, 28 days

Contract status: Signed through 2001

How obtained: Acquired from the Atlanta Braves with second baseman Bret Boone and
right-handed pitcher Jason Shiell in exchange for second baseman Quilvio Veras, outfielder Reggie
Sanders and first baseman Wally Joyner, December 22, 1999.

(His career highlights took up more space than I had planned, so I put them on a separate page. But I haven't quite got that page ready yet :-)

Some of my favorite Ryan Klesko links:

[Index] [The Atlanta Braves] [Country Music] [Horse Racing] [Ben Grieve] [Links] [Me]
[Webrings] [Awards] [Ryan Klesko] [The Ryan Klesko Discussion List] [The Ryan Klesko Webring]
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