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#44 Jason Bay
Jason Bay
- Left Fielder
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Height: 6'2 Weight: 200 lbs.
Born on September 20, 1978 in Trail, British Columbia
MLB Debut
May 23, 2003 for the San Diego Padres
Draft
Picked no. 645 in round 22 of the 2000 draft by the Montreal Expos.
Career Statistics
Updated August 27, 2022
Average     .266
Home Runs     222
RBIs     754
Teams
  • San Diego Padres (2003)
  • Pittsburgh Pirates (2003-2008)
  • Boston Red Sox (2008-2009)
  • New York Mets (2010–2012)
  • Seattle Mariners (2013)
Career Highlights and Awards
  • 2x National League All-Star (2005, 2006)

Jason Raymond Bay (born September 20, 1978 in Trail, British Columbia, Canada) is a retired Canadian Major League Baseball player.

Baseball career[]

Early years[]

Bay was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 22nd round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft from Gonzaga University. In 2001, Bay was assigned to the Expos’ High Single-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 RBI 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. He debuted with the Padres on May 23, 2003, getting his first major league hit, a home run, in the 9th inning. Two days later, he suffered a broken right wrist after a hit by pitch.

Pittsburgh Pirates[]

On August 26, 2003, Bay was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, along with Óliver Pérez and Cory Stewart in August in exchange for Brian Giles. He finished the season with a .287 batting average, four home runs, and 14 RBI in 30 games.

Bay began the 2004 season on the disabled list due to surgery during the off-season, 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. Jason Bay became the first Pittsburgh player ever to win the BBWAA Rookie of the Year Award, first given to Jackie Robinson (who the award was later named after) in 1947. 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 was a career .292 hitter with 97 home runs and 306 RBI in 471 games over three seasons. Bay enjoyed an exceptional May of the 2006, 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).

Following an aggressive Public Relations campaign by the Pirates in 2006, Jason Bay led 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.[1] 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.

After battling injuries, Bay's 2007 season was less productive, hitting .247 with 21 home runs and 84 RBI.[2]

Bay has had a much more productive 2008, hitting .282 with 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in through the All Star break. In a May series against the Chicago Cubs, Bay had extra-inning walk-off hits in back-to-back games; the first two walk-off hits of his career.[3] A month later, he got his third walk-off hit of the season and his career with a 13th-inning solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays.[4]

Boston Red Sox[]

On July 31, 2008, Bay was traded to the Boston Red Sox in a three team deal that sent Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brandon Moss, and Craig Hansen to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Boston Red Sox. [5] Rumors had been swirling leading up to the trade about a possible deal between the Red Sox, Pirates, and Marlins which would have sent Ramirez to the Marlins and Bay to the Red Sox. At about 2:00 ET on July 31st, just two hours before the deadline, ESPN reported that the deal was dead, and that Bay would likely be traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. However, about 20 minutes after the deadline it was revealed that the Dodgers had entered the deal and allowed the Red Sox to acquire Bay. Bay signed with the New York Mets in tahe last week of 2009 - a 4-year contract for $66 million, with an option for a fifth year - pending a physical. Jason Bay passed his physical, and was formally introduced as a New York Met in a press conference in CitiFieldon Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Personal[]

Bay's sister, Lauren, is a professional softball player who pitched for Canada's team in the 2004 Olympics.

Bay remains friends with Edmonton Oilers center Shawn Horcoff, who grew up in Trail with him.

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) - given to the top Canadian baseball player each season.
  • 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[]

Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB SF SH HBP IBB GDP
2003 SD 3 8 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 .250 .400 .750 1.150 6 0 0 1 0 0
2003 PIT 27 79 13 23 6 1 3 12 3 1 18 28 .291 .423 .506 .929 40 0 0 0 0 0
2004 PIT 120 411 61 116 24 4 26 82 4 6 41 129 .282 .358 .550 .908 226 5 5 10 2 9
2005 PIT 162 599 110 183 44 6 32 101 21 1 95 142 .306 .402 .559 .961 335 7 0 6 9 12
2006 PIT 159 570 101 163 29 3 35 109 11 2 102 156 .286 .396 .532 .928 303 9 0 8 9 15
2007 PIT 145 538 78 133 25 2 21 84 4 1 59 141 .247 .327 .418 .745 225 8 0 9 3 8
2008 PIT 99 393 72 111 23 2 22 64 7 0 59 86 .282 .375 .519 .894 204 5 0 2 2 3
BOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals: 715 2,573 432 726 152 18 139 449 49 11 374 679 .282 .376 .517 .893 1,331 33 5 35 25 47

See also[]

References[]

  1. Bay flattered by All-Star push - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
  2. Robinson, Alan (2007-10-05). Pirates fire Tracy after 2 losing seasons. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  3. Adamski, Chris (2008-05-25). Bay makes it a walk-off weekend. MLB.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
  4. Von Benko, George (2008-06-29). Bucs walk off on Bay's 13th-inning homer. MLB.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
  5. Heyman, Jon. "Manny traded to Dodgers, Bay headed to Boston", 2008-07-31. Retrieved on 2008-07-31.

External links[]

Awards
Preceded by:
Dontrelle Willis
National League Rookie of the Year
2004
Succeeded by:
Ryan Howard
Preceded by:
Scott Podsednik
Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie
2004
Succeeded by:
Willy Taveras
Preceded by:
Scott Podsednik
Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year
2004
Succeeded by:
Willy Taveras
Preceded by:
Albert Pujols
National League Player of the Month
April, 2006
Succeeded by:
David Wright
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