Jason Bay

Pittsburgh Pirates — No. 38
Left Field
Born: September 20 1978 (1978--) (age 29)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
May 23, 2003 for the San Diego Padres
Selected MLB statistics (through August 20, 2007)
Avg	.284
HR	115
RBI	385
Teams
San Diego Padres (2003) Pittsburgh Pirates (2003-present)

Jason Raymond Bay (born September 20, 1978 in Trail, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian baseball player, who plays left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He bats and throws right-handed.

In his young major league career, Bay has demonstrated well above average power to all fields. He has also shown good discipline at the plate — in 2005, he ranked in the top ten in the National League in walks — although he does also strike out more often than the average hitter. On the bases, although he is not exceptionally fast, Bay is a very effective basestealer; in 2005, until he was picked off in the last week of the season, he had tied the major league record for most steals in a season without getting caught (21). Defensively, Bay has become adept at handling the large outfield in Pittsburgh's PNC Park and is a dependable fielder. Through 2006, he has made only seven errors in 3702 innings in left field. For a left fielder, he has a below average throwing ability according to The Hardball Times.^[1][2] Overall, as attested by the accolades he has gathered in three full seasons, Bay has become one of the most respected players in the league. Bay's sister, Lauren, is a professional softball player who pitched for Canada's team in the 2004 Olympics.

Baseball career

Bay was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 22nd round of the 2000 draft from Gonzaga University. In 2001, Bay was assigned to the Expos’ High Class-A team in Jupiter. He began the year slowly, and in May he was moved to Clinton of the Midwest League. Bay reached base in his first 26 games, then went on to hit .362 and win the league batting title. In all, he batted .315 with 14 homers and 75 RBIs on the year. He was dealt to the New York Mets on March 24, 2002 for Lou Collier. The Mets dealt him to the San Diego Padres for Steve Reed at the 2002 trading deadline, and he later debuted with the Padres on May 23, 2003. Two days later he suffered a broken right wrist after a hit by pitch. Once healed, he was traded to the Pirates, along with Oliver Perez and Cory Stewart in August in exchange for Brian Giles. He finished the season with a .287 batting average, four home runs, and 14 runs batted in in 30 games.

Bay began the 2004 season on the disabled list due to surgery during the offseason, and did not join the team until May. Despite missing the beginning of the season, he still produced the best offensive numbers of any National League rookie. He hit .282 in 120 games, leading all major league rookies in home runs (26) and RBI (82). He also led all NL rookies in slugging percentage (.550), extra base hits (54) and total bases (226). With his 26 home runs, Bay broke a Pirates rookies record of 23 set by Johnny Rizzo in 1936 and matched by Ralph Kiner in 1946. Selected the NL rookie of the year by The Sporting News, Bay was the third Pittsburgh player honored with the award, after second baseman Johnny Ray (1982) and catcher Jason Kendall. Bay was also the first Canadian player to win the award.

In 2005, Bay was selected to his first Major League Baseball All-Star Game as a reserve outfielder. He was the only player on either roster not to appear in the game at all. Bay also appeared in the 2005 Century 21 Home Run Derby, representing Canada in the nationality-themed contest; he was eliminated in the first round after hitting no home runs. Bay finished the season with a .306 average, 32 home runs, and 101 RBI, leading the Pirates in every major hitting category.

Through the 2006 season, Bay is a career .292 hitter with 97 home runs and 306 RBI in 471 games over three seasons. His current contract is a four-year deal (2006-2009) worth $18.25 million. Bay enjoyed an exceptional May of the 2006 season, when he hit .321 with 12 home runs (a Pirate record for home runs in a month) and 35 runs batted in. From May 22 to May 28 he hit home runs in six consecutive games, two short of the major league record held by Dale Long, Don Mattingly, and Ken Griffey, Jr. He had actually hit 10 home runs in ten games, but he had failed to hit a home run in one of the games (and hit two the next day). In the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Bay was the first Pirates player to start in an All-Star Game since Jason Kendall served as an injury substitution in 2000, and he's the first Pirate to be elected by the fans as a starter since Andy Van Slyke in 1993.

Following an aggressive Public Relations campaign by the Pirates, Jason Bay lead all National League outfielders in All-Star voting. Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder even urged fans to vote for Bay during a summer concert at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena.^[3] Bay became the first member of the Pittsburgh Pirates voted into the All-Star game as a starter since Andy Van Slyke. In the game, Bay went 1 for 3, with a single. Bay's 2007 was less productive, hitting .247 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs.^[4]

Awards and honors

• Three-time NL Rookie of the Month (June, July and September, 2004)
• National League Rookie of the Year (2004)
• The Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year (2004)
• Tip O'Neill Award winner (2004 and 2005)
• National League All-Star (2005, 2006)
• Represented Canada at the World Baseball Classic
• Represented Canada in the 1990 Little League World Series
• May 2006 Player of the Month
• Represented Canada at the 2005 Home Run Derby

Career statistics

See also

• Players from Canada in MLB
• San Diego Padres all-time roster

References

External links

• MLB Profile
• Jason Bay at ESPN.com
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference

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