Eddy Furniss

Wilburn Edward "Eddy" Furniss III (born September 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. A standout college baseball player for Louisiana State University (LSU), Furniss has been inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He is the 10th athlete, and 2nd baseball player, in LSU history to have his number retired.

With the LSU Tigers, Furniss was a two-time College World Series champion and a two-time All-American. He won the Dick Howser Trophy as college baseball's best player in 1998, and set Southeastern Conference (SEC) records in numerous offensive categories, including home runs and runs batted in (RBIs). He was among the National Collegiate Athletic Association's all-time leaders in home runs and RBIs at the time he graduated from college.

Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1998, Furniss played in their minor league system through 2000. He played for the Oakland Athletics organization in 2001 and the Texas Rangers organization in 2002. Unable to advance beyond Class AA, Furniss decided to retire from baseball and attend medical school. He graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and completed his residency at John Peter Smith Hospital. He practices family medicine in his native Nacogdoches, Texas.

Baseball career

Amateur career Furniss attended Nacogdoches High School in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he played for the school's baseball team. In his senior season, Furniss had a .430 batting average, and was named to the All-State team.

As a junior, Furniss batted .378 with 17 home runs and 77 RBIs. The Tigers repeated, winning the 1997 CWS. The SEC presented Furniss with their Sportsmanship Award after the season. Furniss sought to improve his physical shape for the 1998 season, and won the Dick Howser Trophy as the top collegiate baseball player. He was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, though the award was won by Pat Burrell.

Furniss had a .371 batting average in his four years at LSU, and set SEC career records for hits (352), doubles (87), home runs (80), runs batted in (309), and total bases (689). At the end of his career, he was among the NCAA's all-time leaders in various offensive categories, ranking third in total bases, fourth in home runs and doubles, and fifth in RBIs. After his senior season, Furniss was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fourth round of the 1998 MLB draft. Furniss struggled in Carolina, and the Pirates demoted Furniss to Lynchburg on August 4. He batted .193 in 36 games with Lynchburg to close the season.

The Pirates assigned Furniss to Lynchburg in 1999, where he batted .261 with 23 home runs and 87 RBIs, and was honored as the Carolina League's All-Star first baseman. The Pirates sent Furniss to play in the Arizona Fall League after the 1999 regular season. He played for the Altoona Curve of the Class AA Eastern League, the Pirates' new Class AA affiliate, in 2000, where he batted .239 in 121 games played.

Signed as a free agent by the Oakland Athletics organization after the season, Furniss started the 2001 season with the Midland RockHounds of the Class AA Texas League, but was demoted to the Visalia Oaks of the Class A-Advanced California League in April. The Athletics promoted him back to Midland later in the season. Joining the Texas Rangers organization for the 2002 season, he played for the Tulsa Drillers, also in the Texas League, where he played in 26 games and batted .143.

Honors In honor of his LSU career, Furniss has been inducted into three halls of fame; the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. During his 2012 induction speech, Furniss quoted the character based on Moonlight Graham from Field of Dreams. Graham played in one MLB game before he retired to practice medicine.

Medical career

"When I was in high school I always planned to be a doctor and come back to Nacogdoches. The baseball was an accidental success, something I happened to be good at and so my plan was I'd do it as long as possible. I could always go back to being a doctor." — Eddy Furniss

Personal life Furniss was raised in Nacogdoches, Texas, on a ranch. His father, a medical doctor who practices family medicine, built Eddy a batting cage so that he could take 200 to 300 practice swings a day as a child.

Furniss married his high school girlfriend, Crystal, with whom he has two sons and a daughter.