William Shawn Wooten (born July 24, 1972) is the assistant major league hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels. He is a former professional baseball player. He played all or parts of five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Anaheim Angels (2000–03), Philadelphia Phillies (2004), and Boston Red Sox (2005). He bats and throws right-handed. A utility player who played first base, catcher, and third base, Wooten compiled a .272 batting average with 18 home runs and 86 RBI in 266 games played in his major league career. A member of the Angels' 2002 World Series championship team, he was a late bloomer, not making the majors until age 28. After that, while he played well in limited playing time, his career was derailed by a pair of injuries. Playing career Early career Wooten was originally drafted and signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1993 as a third baseman. He played a little over two years in the Tigers organization, but was released in midseason in 1995 after batting .129 in 20 games with Double-A Jacksonville. He signed with the independent Moose Jaw Diamond Dogs of the Prairie League, where he hit .373 over the second half of 1995. After playing for Moose Jaw again in 1996, he was signed by the Anaheim Angels for the 1997 season. Anaheim Angels Climbing the ladder The Angels assigned Wooten to the Class-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, where he began learning the catcher position. In 1998, with the Lake Elsinore Storm, he was the club's starting first baseman, and over the next two seasons Wooten continued to play all three positions. In 2000, he batted .353 with the Triple-A Edmonton Trappers, earning a late-season promotion to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on August 19 as the starting catcher against the New York Yankees and was hitless in four at-bats. His first hit was a single to left field against Kelvim Escobar of the Toronto Blue Jays on August 30. He wound up playing in 7 games, getting five hits in nine at bats. Rookie season In 2001, Wooten spent his first full season in the major leagues with Anaheim (qualifying as a rookie) after making the 25-man roster out of spring training. He opened the campaign batting .385 (10-for-26), with three home runs and six runs batted in in April, leading all American League rookies in home runs for