Virginia's Chris Sweet Becomes the Fourth Cavalier Selected in 2002 Major League Baseball Draft

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June 6, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – University of Virginia baseball player Chris Sweet (Houston, Texas/Stratford) became the fourth Cavalier selected in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft when he was chosen in the 37th round as the 1117th pick overall by the San Francisco Giants. With his selection, Sweet became the 48th player from UVa selected in the MLB Draft and is the 32nd player from Virginia chosen in the past 14 seasons. He joins Robert Word (10th round, 293rd player overall by the Florida Marlins), Dan Street (20th round, 591st pick by the Colorado Rockies) and David Stone (36th round, 1087th pick by the San Francisco Giants) as the fourth UVa player taken in the 2002 MLB Draft. Virginia’s four draft picks are the most in one season for UVa since four Cavaliers were drafted in 1997.

Sweet, a third-year outfielder, started all 57 games he appeared in as a center fielder in 2002. He batted .298 with 64 hits (including nine doubles, four home runs and two triples) to go along with 36 runs scored and 25 RBI. Sweet was also successful on 9-of-12 stolen base attempts and had a .978 fielding percentage. For his career, Sweet started 116 of the 120 games he appeared in and batted .287 with 127 hits (including 21 doubles, six home runs, five triples), 69 runs, 53 RBI and was successful on 20-of-27 stolen bases attempts. He also had one of the strongest arms on team and made one career pitching appearance in 2002.

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