Editing Grady Sizemore/pagetext

{{Person-pagetext
|summary=is a Major League center fielder and three-time all star. He has played for the Cleveland Indians since his Major League debut in 2004.
|infobox-image=File:Grady Sizemore-20080714-rubenstein.jpg
}}
Grady Sizemore was an excellent high school athlete who earned a football scholarship at the University of Washington for his high school exploits, for which he was honored as a 1999 Inductee into the Snohomish County Football Hall of Fame.<ref name="UWFBmedia">{{cite-web | url=http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/sizemore_grady00.html | year=2009 | month=11 | day=26}}</ref> Among his other honors in high school were being named 1999 Associated Press Class 4A All-State first team at defensive back, 1999 Seattle Times all-state first team at defensive back, selected to 1999 Seattle Times preseason all-state first-team at RB, and the Everett Herald's state defensive player of the year. He was also a preseason baseball all-American in 1998, and two-time all-conference selection at outfield.<ref name="UWFBmedia" /> All this caught the eye of the Montreal Expos, who drafted him in the Third Round of the June 2000 draft.<ref>{{cite-web | url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=year_round&year_ID=2000&draft_round=3&draft_type=junreg | year=2009 | month=11 | day=26}}</ref> It took a $2 million signing bonus to take him away from college.<ref name="Sickels">{{cite-web | url=http://www.minorleagueball.com/2009/2/16/761294/prospect-retrospective-gra | year=2009 | month=11 | day=26}}</ref>

Sizemore was included, along with [[Brandon Phillips]], [[Cliff Lee (pitcher)|Cliff Lee]], and [[Lee Stevens]] in the Expos trade for [[Bartolo Colon]] and [[Tim Drew]] in June 2002. The trade, noted John Sickels, "seemed to wake him up" as he hit .343 afterwards with the High-A [[2002 Kinston Indians|Kinston Indians]]. In 2003, he had his best year in the minors.<ref name="Sickels" /> Among the honors and recognitions Sizemore earned in the minors were being given the [[Lou Boudreau]] Award as the top position player in the Indians' organization in 2003 after hitting .304 with 13 homers, 78 RBI and 10 steals in 128 games at [[2003 Akron Aeros|AA Akron]] and winning the Larry Doby Award as the MVP of the All-Star Futures Game in Chicago for going 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI. Sizemore was a member of Team USA in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Panama in the fall of 2003<ref>{{cite-web | url=http://indians.scout.com/a.z?s=264&p=8&c=1&nid=1691564 | year=2009 | month=11 | day=26}} </ref>and later was named to the 2009 World Baseball Classic team.

Since arriving for good in the majors, Sizemore has been named an All-Star in 2006, 2007, and 2008; has won a RawlingsGold Glove in 2007 and 2008; and a Silver Slugger in 2008. In 2006, he was honored with both the Indians Gordon Cobbledick Golden Tomahawk Award and the Cleveland BBWAA Man of the Year Award<ref name="IndiansMG">{{cite-web | url=http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=429713 | year=2009 | month=11 | day=26}}</ref>.

Sizemore's 2009 season was frustrated by injuries. Beginning in spring training, Sizemore battled injuries most of the season, ending his 382 consecutive games played streak and eventually shutting down his season early for arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow and "athletic pubalgia," or an unstable abdominal wall, on Sizemore's left side.<ref name="IndiansMG" /ref></ref> 

==Further Reading==
* Last Baseball Register entry: {{cite-book | title=2007 Baseball Register | last=| first=| publisher=Sporting News | city=St. Louis, MO | year=2006 }}
* For a glimpse at the personal side of Grady in 2007, see {{cite-web | url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3661731 | year=2009 | month=11 | day=26}}