League Player of the Year Award and the Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award. Oakland Athletics He made his major league debut on September 8, 1998, in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, where he came in as a pinch hitter for Mike Blowers and struck out in his only at bat. He finished the 1998 season having played in 16 games, and ending with a .311 batting average, as well as a triple. In the 27 games of September and October in 2001, Chavez hit ten home runs with 31 RBIs, a .379 batting average and a .738 slugging percentage resulting in him being named the American League Player of the Month for the only time in his career. Chavez won six consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards from 2001 to 2006. In , the Athletics signed him to a six-year, $66 million contract extension; it was the largest contract guarantee made by the Athletics. , the contract (equivalent to $ million in ) remains the largest in franchise history. Between –, his batting average remained consistent, hitting in the .270–.280 range. His home runs hit remained steady, hitting 29 in 2003 and 2004, and 27 in 2005. However, his offense production dropped in 2006, with his batting average dropping to .241, despite hitting 22 home runs. This slump continued into , hitting .240 and 15 home runs. Through his first ten years with the A's, Chavez played 1256 games and batted .269. He had 227 home runs and 762 RBIs. Chavez batted .250 and slugged .445 in April and in May combined, but batted .294 and slugged .544 in June, July and August, continuing a constant theme in the Oakland A's organization in that they are a "second half" team. He started the season on the disabled list, due to back pain. He was activated from the disabled list on May 29. On July 2, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list again with right shoulder inflammation. On June 14, 2009, Chavez was placed on the disabled list once again due to back pain, this time out for the season. Chavez became a free agent at the conclusion of the 2010 season when the Oakland A's declined a club option to keep him on the roster for the 2011 season. He had the longest continuous tenure as an Athletic, at 13 years, and second overall total