Outfielder Oscar Garcia Sets NWL Record

EUGENE, OR - 2010 Emeralds outfielder Oscar Garcia joins only a handful of former Ems in the record books of the Northwest League. Garcia makes his name with the highest fielding average for an outfielder in a single season. He ties with 11 other Northwest League players, the most recent being Tri-City's Jefferey Salazar in 2002. In 107 total chances, Garcia never made a single error, giving him a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Only two other Emeralds have set defensive records in fielding average for the Northwest League: first basemen Harry Guanchez in 1990 (.998) and catcher Yoon-Min Kweon in 2000 (1.000).

Garcia seems to have set the pace for the Emeralds defense-team ranked first in the Northwest League defensively with a .975 fielding percentage, only committing 73 errors as a team. 2010 NWL Champions, the Everett AquaSox, came in second with a .972 fielding percentage and 82 errors.

Drafted by the Padres in the 31st round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Northwestern State University in Louisiana, Garcia appeared in 52 games for the Emeralds. On the offense side, he hit .225 with 45 hits, six doubles, one triple, one homer and 22 RBI.