Troy Tulowitzki: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies is one of the highest home run hitters in the MLB and is captaining the National League team in both the game and the 5 man Home Run Derby Squad in 2014. Watch the video above to see some of his career highlights.

Here’s what you need to know about him:


1. He is Tied For Fifth for Most Home Runs in the MLB

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One of the reasons he was a top competitor is because he has the most home runs of anyone in the Home Run Derby field of participants. He ended up getting eliminated in the second round of the contest by Todd Frazier of the National League.

The only players in the league in front of him in the MLB are:

Jose Abreu (29)
Nelson Cruz (28)
Edwin Encarnacion (26)
Mike Trout (22)

He is tied with National League teammate Giancarlo Stanton with 21 so far.


2. He Went to Long Beach State For 3 Years

Tulo was the starting shortstop for three seasons at California State University, Long Beach. He was a star athlete on the team with a .962 career fielding percentage, .310 batting average, and a .491 slugging percentage. Watch the video above to see an interview with him from a few years out of college.

He was also chosen to be a member of the USA team in the 2004 World University Baseball Championship which the team received a gold medal for that year.


3. He Has Played for the Colorado Rockies Since 2006

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Tulowitzki made moved up to the major league just a year and 126 minor league games after being drafted in 2005. Since moving up to the Colorado Rockies, he has tallied well over 1,000 hits for the team.

He has a .299 career batting average as of April 2014.

Click here for his full career stats.


4. He Has Been Compared to Derek Jeter

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As a talented veteran shortstop at the Colorado Rockies, he bear many similarities to Derek Jeter who will be retiring after this season. Like Jeter, he has played on the same team for his whole career (so far) and plays the same position.

Recently there has been talk of Tulowitzki even transferring to the Yankees after Jeter’s retirement to fill his spot, but that is just speculation as of now.

Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe spoke with the rockies team owner Charlie Monfort about his oppostition to letting go of Tulo and another player on the team.

Carfado said:

The feeling is Monfort would be hesitant to let his two stars go because of ramifications concerning ticket sales and TV ratings. Those are legitimate concerns in that market,. Cargo isn’t having a Cargo year. The Rockies have some other outfield pieces, but when Cargo is right there aren’t too many more exciting players in the game.”


5. His Wife Was Voted Top 20 Hottest MLB Wife

Tulowitzki married his high school sweetheart Danyll Gammon in 2009. They both graduated from Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California.

In February, it was rumored Danyll is pregnant, but it hasn’t been confirmed.