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{{Infobox baseball biography
| name = Travis Hafner
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| position = [[Designated hitter]] / [[First baseman]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|6|3}}
| birth_place = [[Jamestown, North Dakota]], U.S.
| bats = Left
| throws = Right
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* [[New York Yankees]] ({{mlby|2013}})
}}
'''Travis Lee Hafner''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|æ|f|n|ər}}; born June 3, 1977) is an [[Americans|American]] former [[professional baseball]] player. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] as a [[designated hitter]] and [[first baseman]]. A [[left-handed]] hitter, Hafner played for the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]], [[Cleveland Indians]] and [[New York Yankees]]. His nickname, "'''Pronk'''", was given to him by former teammate [[Bill Selby]] during [[spring training]] of 2003 when people sometimes referred to him as "
==Early life and career==
Hafner was born in [[Jamestown, North Dakota]], in 1977 and attended a small high school in [[Sykeston, North Dakota|Sykeston]], which did not have a baseball program. He was valedictorian of his high school class of eight students.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20130718&content_id=53983546&vkey=news_was&c_id=was|title=Host of big leaguers hail from small-town life|website=Washington Nationals|language=en|access-date=
==Professional career==
===Texas Rangers===
Hafner was drafted by the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]] in the 31st round of the [[1996 Major League Baseball Draft]]. He hit his first career home run August 11, 2002, while playing for the Rangers against the Cleveland Indians. In addition to the home run, Hafner had two doubles and a single in five at-bats, driving in three runs and scoring two. He nearly hit for the cycle in this game, but was thrown out at third base while attempting the triple.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE200208110.shtml]
===Cleveland Indians===
====
In 2004, Hafner had a breakout offensive season. As the primary DH in the Indians' line-up, he finished the season in the top ten in the league in [[on-base percentage]] (.410, 3rd), [[slugging percentage]] (.583, 4th), [[Double (baseball)|doubles]] (41, 6th), [[extra base hits]] (72, 7th), [[Run batted in|RBI]] (109, 9th) and [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] (.311, 10th). He also hit 28 [[home run]]s (16th in the AL) and scored 96 [[Run (baseball)|runs]] (20th in the AL). Hafner topped the .300 mark in batting average each month of the season except August–when he hit a respectable .274–and was particularly hot in July, hitting .360 with
At the beginning of the 2005 season, the Indians signed Hafner to a three-year contract through 2007 with a club option for 2008.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050413&content_id=1014238&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle| title = Indians sign Hafner to three-year deal|
He responded by exceeding his offensive production of 2004. Hafner was again among the league leaders in on-base percentage (3rd, .408), slugging percentage (3rd, .595), doubles (5th, 42), [[Base on balls|walks]] (7th, 79), extra base hits (8th, 75), batting average (9th, .305), home runs (9th, 33) and RBI (9th, 108), also scoring 94 runs. The American League named Hafner [[MLB Player of the Month|Player of the Month]] for June, during which he posted a .345 batting average with 10 doubles,
In the first full week of July he was named [[Major League Baseball Player of the Week Award|Player of the Week]] after hitting .480 with
| url = http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050711&content_id=1127048&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle| title = Hafner latest AL Player of the Week|
After the season, the Cleveland chapter of the [[Baseball Writers' Association of America]] (BBWAA) named him Indians Man of the Year<ref>{{cite news | first = Terry | last = Pluto |
====2006====
[[File:Travis Hafner intentionally walked.jpg|300px|thumb|Hafner is [[intentional base on balls|intentionally walked]] by the [[Detroit Tigers]] on August 25, 2006]]
For the third straight season, in 2006, Hafner posted MVP-caliber numbers while anchoring the middle of one of the most potent offenses in baseball. On September 1, he was hit on the hand by Texas Rangers pitcher [[C. J. Wilson (baseball)|C.J. Wilson]]. The Indians placed him on the disabled list for the rest of the season on September 9 after
At the time of the injury, he led the league in slugging percentage (.659) and walks (100); was second in home runs (42), RBI (117), [[total bases]] (299), on-base percentage (.439) and extra-base hits (74); and was third in runs scored (100). He also batted over .300 (.308) for the third consecutive season. He finished 8th in the league MVP voting by the BBWAA.
On June 7, a section in the [[right field]] mezzanine at [[Jacobs Field]] was officially opened as "Pronkville
A little more than a month later, on August 13, Hafner tied Mattingly's single-season record when he hit his sixth grand slam of the season, off [[Luke Hudson]] of the [[Kansas City Royals]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060813&content_id=1607848&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle| title = Hafner ties Mattingly for slams in season|
Hafner set the single-season club mark with 39 home runs and 110 RBI as a DH, surpassing [[Andre Thornton]]'s 1982 totals of 32 home runs and 109 RBI. He became the second Indian ever to record 100 walks, 100 runs and 100 RBI in the same season ([[Jim Thome]] did so in 1997, 2001 and 2002). His .659 slugging percentage was the sixth
▲Hafner set the single-season club mark with 39 home runs and 110 RBI as a DH, surpassing [[Andre Thornton]]'s 1982 totals of 32 home runs and 109 RBI. He became the second Indian ever to record 100 walks, 100 runs and 100 RBI in the same season ([[Jim Thome]] did so in 1997, 2001 and 2002). His .659 slugging percentage was the sixth highest in team history.
▲====2007-2012====
In 2007, Hafner batted .266 for the season, compared to .308 in 2006 and .305 in 2005. He hit 24 home runs and 100 runs batted in, his fourth straight season of 100+ RBI.<ref>[https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6980;_ylt=ApB3A0zjEEj9Tq6z2b9jvv2FCLcF Travis Hafner Profile] sports.yahoo.com</ref> Some critics pointed to Hafner's disappointing performance being due to unfinished contract negotiations, but Hafner denied this. The Indians signed Hafner to a four-year, $57 million contract extension during the All-Star break, keeping him in Cleveland through the 2012 season.<ref>[http://www.mlive.com/sportsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/sports-19/1184285662205450.xml&storylist= Tribe, Hafner ink $57M, 4 -year extension] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181111/http://www.mlive.com/sportsflash/topstories/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fsports-19%2F1184285662205450.xml&storylist= |date=September 30, 2007 }} mlive.com</ref> As of the end of the 2007 season, Hafner ranked first all-time for career home runs by a player born in [[North Dakota]] with 142.
[[File:Travis Hafner bats lr.jpg|240px|thumb|Hafner batting for the [[2008 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians in 2008]] spring training]]
Hafner missed most of the 2008 season due to injuries, appearing in only 57 games with 234 appearances at the plate.<ref>
Though he still missed time due to injury in 2009, Hafner appeared in 94 games and hit .272 with 16 home runs and
Hafner played 118 games with 462 plate appearances in 2010, hitting .278 with 13 home runs and an .824 OPS.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hafnetr01.shtml Travis Hafner] ''[[Baseball-reference.com]]''</ref>
In 2011, Hafner played in 94 games. He batted .280 and had 57 RBIs along with 13 home runs. On May 13, 2011, Hafner hit a walk-off home run off Seattle Mariners' closer [[Brandon League]]. Hafner hit another walk-off home run on July 7, 2011, off Toronto Blue Jays reliever [[Luis Pérez (
On April 5, 2012, Hafner became only the 12th player in Cleveland Indians history to make at least 10 starts on Opening Day in a Cleveland Indians uniform. On April 15, 2012, Hafner hit a home run off Kansas City Royals starting pitcher [[Luis Mendoza (baseball)|Luis Mendoza]] that was estimated at having traveled 456 feet. It was the longest homer hit at [[Kauffman Stadium]] since 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/gameflash/2012/04/15/40614_recap.html|title=Hafner hits long homer, Indians sweep Royals|
===New York Yankees===
On February 1, 2013, Hafner signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the [[New York Yankees]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2013/01/31/yankees-on-the-verge-of-deal-with-hafner/|title=Yankees on the verge of deal with Hafner - The LoHud Yankees Blog|work=The LoHud Yankees Blog|
Hafner was eligible to be elected into the Hall of Fame in 2019, but received less than 5% of the vote and became ineligible for the 2020 ballot.
==Personal life==
In November 2006, Hafner married Amy Hafner (née Beekman). The couple have three sons, Blake Lee, born in 2009, Trip John, born in 2012, and Knox Jameson born in 2015.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061115&content_id=1741274&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle| title = Notes: Early posting results unhelpful|
Hafner is a fan of [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE),<ref name="playersmediaguide"/> especially the wrestler [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]].
In April 2006, [[Malley's Chocolates]] of Cleveland unveiled the 'Pronk Bar', a milk chocolate candy bar named in honor of Hafner.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060409&content_id=1391601&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle| title = Notes: Sweet start for Hafner|
==See also==
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