Latham played baseball at
Basic High School in
Henderson, Nevada, and in 1991 the
Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the June amateur draft, taking him with the 300th overall pick as part of the draft's 11th round. Latham enjoyed a breakout season with the
Yakima Bears of the
Northwest League in 1994, setting a club record with a .340
batting average. Latham also made the Northwest League's
All-Star team that season, establishing himself as a prospect. The
Major League Baseball Players Association went on
strike late in 1994, and as a result major league organizations attempted to field teams of
replacement players in the
spring training before the 1995 season. Latham was one of the Dodgers' replacement players that spring, but the two sides reached a deal before any regular-season replacement games were played. On October 30, 1995, Latham was chosen as the
player to be named later in a deal that had been concluded on July 31. Los Angeles received pitchers
Kevin Tapani and
Mark Guthrie from the
Minnesota Twins, with Latham,
Ron Coomer,
Greg Hansell and
José Parra going the other way. Latham made his major league debut with the Twins on April 12, 1997, appearing as a
pinch runner for
Todd Walker in an 11-6 win over the
Kansas City Royals. He spent parts of the next three seasons with the Twins, but struggled to establish himself in the major leagues, and was traded to the
Colorado Rockies for
Scott Randall on December 7, 1999. Latham spent all of the 2000 season at the AAA level, then signed with the
Toronto Blue Jays organization as a minor league
free agent. He enjoyed his most successful major league season with the Blue Jays in 2001, batting .274 with a .369
on-base percentage and a .425
slugging percentage in 73
at bats. After another season in AAA, he spent a brief time with the
New York Yankees in 2003, then signed with Japan's
Yomiuri Giants after being
designated for assignment. Latham spent the 2005 season with the independent
Bridgeport Bluefish of the
Atlantic League. Most recently, he represented the
United States in the
2005 Baseball World Cup, as one of four outfielders on the American team. ==References==