Alex Bregman was born March 30, 1994 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Samuel Bregman, who served as the state’s Democratic party chairman, and his wife Jackie De Oliveira, both of whom are attorneys. De Oliveira converted to Judaism from Catholicism.
At his bar mitzvah at Congregation Albert, Bregman stated: “I want to be a professional athlete who plays for the love of the game, never quits trying to give my best, and is a good role model for all the kids who look up to baseball players.”
Bergman was born to sports. His great-grandfather, Samuel “Bo” Bregman, a Russian immigrant, promoted boxing matches including Joe Louis, Billy Conn, and Bob Foster. He was also part of the ownership group that moved the Boston Redskins to Washington, D.C.
His grandfather, Stan Bregman, was general counsel for the Washington Senators, helping to negotiate the contract that brought superstar Ted Williams as the team’s general manager.
His father, who became the district attorney of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, also is a part owner of the New Mexico Thunderbirds, a development team for the National Basketball Association.
The future major league baseball third baseman began playing tee-ball at age 4. In his first game, he caught a line drive, tagged a runner, and stepped on second base – an unassisted triple play! He later served as a batboy for the University of New Mexico baseball team. He and Blake Swihart, who played for the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks, played travel ball together as youngsters.
At Alburquerque Academy, he led his high school classmates to the state championship, playing shortstop and batting leadoff with an average of .514. As a sophomore, he batted .564 at the COPABE Pan American Baseball Championships, winning a gold medal for competitors 16 and under. He was named the most valuable player. He also won that year the USA Baseball Richard W. “Dick” Case Player of the Year. In his junior year, he batted .678 and led the 18-and-under US National Team to a gold medal at the International Baseball Federation World Championships.
A baseball took a bad hop and shattered his second knuckle on his right hand, making him miss most of the rest of his senior season in high school. The Boston Red Sox drafted him in 29th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft, but Bregman opted instead to play for the Louisiana State University Tigers. In 2013, he batted .369 and had a 23-game hitting streak, winning the Brooks Wallace Award as the country’s best college shortstop. Several rating organizations honored him as the national Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore year, he batted .316, was named to the 2014 USA Collegiate National Team, and shared an apartment with future All Star pitcher Aaron Nola. As a junior, he batted .312, leading the No. 1 ranked LSU team to the College World Series.
The Houston Astros selected Bregman in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft, and he received a $5.9 million signing bonus. In the minor leagues, he worked his way up from the Quad Cities River Bandits in Class A to the Lancaster JetHawks in Class A-Advanced California League. In 2016 was with the Corpus Christi Hooks in Class AA, winning honors as a Player of the Week, and an All Star. He moved on to the Fresno Grizzlies in Class AAA, compiling a .333 batting average. In 2016, Bregman was named Minor League Player of the Year by USA Today, and was called up to the Majors by the Houston Astros on July 25, 2016. He made his major league debut against the New York Yankees that same day. He got his first major league hit on July 31 with a single to center field against the Detroit Tigers. His first home run came August 16 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
In 2017, Bregman, then 22, was the youngest member of the gold-medal-winning Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. In the Astros regular season, he hit his first major league grand slam off Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees in a come-from-behind win. His batting average that year was.284, and he had 17 stolen bases. The Astros won the American League pennant that year, and in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bregman hit a walk-off single served up by Kenley Jansen. The Astros went on to win that World Series.
In 2018, third baseman Bregman was named to the All Star Game. He hit a go-ahead home run in the 10th inning, resulting in his being named the game’s most valuable player.
Bregman continued collecting distinctions. In 2019, he won the Silver Slugger Award at third base, and came in second to Mike Trout in balloting for the American League’s Most Valuable Player. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Bregman hit his 100th home run. He also married Regan Howard that year.
In 2021, the Baseball Writers Association of America honored him with the Darryl Kile Good Guy Award. In the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Bregman’s home run set a record at six for most career homeruns by a third baseman. It was the 22nd World Series game he had appeared in. Bregman’s first child, a son Knox, was born August 1st of that year.
In the 2023 season, he had his 500th RBI on April 23rd, and in the month of June he hit three grand slams.
Tomorrow: March 31: Rhea Perlman
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SDJW condensation of a Wikipedia article
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