Paul Goldschmidt

Early life

Paul Goldschmidt was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and grew up in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston. He attended The Woodlands High School and attended Texas State University to play college baseball for the Texas State Bobcats baseball team. He was twice named the Southland Conference hitter of the year (2008 and 2009), once named Southland player of the year (2009) and was a third-team All-American as a junior in 2009 after hitting .352 with 18 home runs and 88 runs batted in (RBIs) in 57 games played. Goldschmidt set records for home runs (36), doubles (45), walks (110) and RBI (369) during his three-year career at Texas State.

Minor leagues

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Goldschmidt in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. In 2009, he excelled in Rookie League for the Missoula Osprey, hitting .334 and 18 home runs along with 62 RBI in his first half-season of professional baseball.

He continued his success the following year in the California League, where he was selected as an all-star as well as the league's Most Valuable Player. He was also named the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year. In 2011, he was again named the Diamondbacks' player of the year, a Baseball America first-team Minor League All-Star, Double-A all-star first baseman, Southern League all-star first baseman, and Southern League Most Valuable Player.

Overall, Goldschmidt hit .317 with a .407 on-base percentage and 83 home runs in two and a half minor league seasons.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Goldschmidt was called up to the majors on August 1, 2011, becoming the first Texas State position player to play in the major leagues. At the time of his call-up, he was leading the minors with 30 home runs. Goldschmidt tallied a base hit in his first at-bat on August 1, and hit his first home run the next day off San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. In his rookie season, Goldschmidt batted .250 with 8 home runs and 26 RBI in 48 games.

In Game 3 of the NLDS playoffs against the Brewers, Goldschmidt hit a grand slam home run to extend the team's lead in its first victory of the series. His homer was the third grand slam by a rookie in MLB postseason history. The Diamondbacks lost the series in five games, and Goldschmidt batted .438 with 6 RBI and an OBP of .526.

In 2012, Goldschmidt played 145 games and batted .286 with 20 home runs, 82 runs, 82 RBIs, 43 doubles, and 18 stolen bases. Goldschmidt hit his first career regular-season grand slam on June 1 off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Mármol at Wrigley Field. Four days later, Goldschmidt hit another grand slam off St. Louis Cardinals reliever Maikel Cleto. Goldschmidt hit a third grand slam on August 20, 2013 against pitcher J. J. Hoover of the Cincinnati Reds.

During the 2013 MLB season, Goldschmidt was selected to the National League all-star team. Goldschmidt collected one of only three hits for the National League team, and the only extra-base hit, when he doubled with two outs in the ninth inning. On August 13, he hit a game-tying home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. Goldschmidt then hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eleventh, becoming the first Diamondbacks player to record game-tying and walk-off home runs in the same game. In 160 games that season, he attained a .302 batting average, 36 home runs, and 125 RBI. Goldschmidt finished second in the NL MVP voting, behind Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen.

In 2014, Goldschmidt batted .300 with 19 home runs, 75 runs, and 69 RBIs before a broken hand ended his season on August 1. Goldschmidt was the starting first baseman for the NL in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game.

On June 10, 2015, Goldschmidt hit his 100th career home run against Brett Anderson of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is now sixth on the Diamondbacks' all-time home run list. Later that year, Goldschmidt was again the starting first baseman for the NL in the All-Star Game. Goldschmidt attained a .321 batting average with 33 home runs and 110 RBI in 2015. He won his second Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award. For the second time in three seasons, Goldschmidt was voted the runner-up for the NL MVP award, this time finishing behind Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper.

In 2016, Goldschmidt batted .297 with 24 home runs, 106 runs, and 95 RBIs in 579 at-bats. Goldschmidt was again named to the NL All-Star Team, to play in San Diego where he went 0 for 3, recording a fielder's choice in the ninth inning.

On August 3, 2017, Goldschmidt hit three home runs in a game for the first time, bolstering the Diamondbacks' 10–8 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Personal life

Goldschmidt met his future wife, Amy, during his freshman year at Texas State; the couple married in October 2010. The couple's first child, a son, was born in September 2015. Goldschmidt became an evangelical Christian as an adult; he has Jewish as well as European ancestry.

In September 2013, Goldschmidt graduated from University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Science degree in management.