Adam Troy Dunn (born November 9, 1979), nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman.

Dunn's statistical profile was highly unusual for its day; he walked, struck out, or homered in nearly half his career plate appearances.

Consistent with the principles of the then-emerging sabermetric movement, Dunn helped prove that a batter could significantly contribute to his team despite an unimpressive batting average.

[1] Although Dunn was naturally right-handed, his father Skip taught him to bat left-handed after noticing that he hit for greater power as a lefty.

[3] With Applewhite entrenched in the starting role for the foreseeable future and star recruit Chris Simms arriving on campus, Dunn was asked to move to the tight end position in spring 1999.

[7] The Reds also invited Dunn to major league spring training, where infielder Chris Sexton gave him the nickname "Big Donkey.

At mid-season, Dunn was hitting .300 with 17 home runs and 54 RBIs, earning him a selection to the 2002 National League All-Star team.

Along with his struggles at the plate, Dunn led all major league outfielders in errors, with 10,[16] and suffered a thumb sprain while attempting a diving catch in mid-August that forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

On August 10, 2004, Dunn hit the longest home run in the history of Great American Ball Park, a 535-foot blast to straightaway center that went over the batter's eye and bounced off Mehring Way into a section of the Ohio River that is considered part of Kentucky.

[16][22] On June 30 of that season, Dunn made Cincinnati headlines with one of the biggest home runs of his career, a walk-off grand slam to cap a 9-run rally to beat the Indians, which kept the Reds tied atop the NL Central with St.

[23] During a lengthy rain delay on July 21, 2006, Dunn made a prank phone call from the clubhouse to Reds radio announcer Marty Brennaman.

In his 8 seasons with Cincinnati, Dunn hit 270 home runs with 646 RBIs, 755 walks and 1,212 strikeouts, all of which were within the top ten in team history.

"[43] By the end of May 2012, Dunn surpassed his entire home run total from the year before and was leading the American League in walks.

[45] On July 24, Dunn became the fourth left-handed White Sox player to hit 30 home runs in a season, joining Oscar Gamble, Robin Ventura and Jim Thome.

On August 5, 2014, much to the delight of the remaining fans at U.S. Cellular Field and members of the White Sox dugout, Dunn pitched the top of the ninth inning during a demoralizing blowout loss of 16–0 to the Texas Rangers.

[51] On September 1, Dunn made his first plate appearance with Oakland and hit a two-run home run against the Seattle Mariners.

[54] On the last day of the season, the Athletics clinched the second AL Wild Card spot, which meant he was on a postseason roster for the first (and last) time.

[53] On March 1, 2009, Dunn joined the United States team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic at the late request of coach Davey Johnson.

[64] In addition, Dunn's 19 golden sombreros (4+ strikeouts in a single game) put him in a tie with Bo Jackson for fourth-most all-time.

[72] At the time of his retirement, Dunn's TTO percentage was the highest figure in baseball history for players with at least 4,000 career plate appearances.

[73] Major League Baseball's official glossary entry for "Three True Outcomes" cites Dunn as "one of the more famed three-true-outcomes players in recent history.

"[72] Dunn's then-bizarre statistical profile helped pave the way for a new, statistically-focused "Moneyball" style of baseball, which downplayed the negative value of strikeouts and emphasized the positive value of walks and home runs.

"[79] For his own part, Dunn said that he tried harder to get base hits when there were runners in scoring position, but "If it's first inning, two outs, nobody on, you know I'm not going to lie to you, I'm trying to get in the seats.

McAree concluded that Dunn "just happened to be at the right time and the right place to be the poster child for baseball’s offensive metamorphosis while also a cautionary tale for what can go wrong with too-easy analytical thinking.

"[86] In addition, Toronto Blue Jays general manager J. P. Ricciardi publicly insinuated that Dunn "doesn't really like baseball that much," although he later apologized for his comments.

[87] Following Dunn's departure from the Reds, CBS' Gregg Doyel harshly criticized Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. for providing poor leadership, explaining that the new-look Reds were different from "the older, beer-bellied softball teams of recent years ... lounging on the clubhouse's leather couches, hitting home runs, misplaying balls in the outfield and thinking they had it all figured out, when all they knew how to do was lose.

"[88] However, Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo defended Dunn's effort, calling him "the most misunderstood player I have heard about in recent memory.

"[89] In December 2005, Reds manager Jerry Narron informed the press that, due to the trade of popular first baseman Sean Casey to the Pittsburgh Pirates for left-handed pitcher Dave Williams, Dunn would be moving to first base for the 2006 season.

However, with the acquisition of free agent first baseman Scott Hatteberg (who played for the Oakland Athletics in 2005) during spring training and the March 20 trade of outfielder Wily Mo Peña to the Boston Red Sox for right-handed pitcher Bronson Arroyo, the plan to convert Dunn was scrapped.

[citation needed] After Nick Johnson was traded to the Florida Marlins, Dunn was made the Washington Nationals' everyday first baseman.