Admittedly I have wasted way too much time and energy worrying about the Manny saga this past week. So instead of worrying about him a second longer, let's look at his replacement instead: Jason Bay. The 29-year old Canadian was the 2004 NL Rookie of the Year, when he hit .282 with 26 HR and 82 RBI in 120 games. 2005 was even better for Bay as he was selected to his first All Star team. He finished the year at .306 with 32 HR and 101 RBI. In 2006 he made his second All Star team after being voted as a starter for the NL. His average dippped slightly in '06 (to .286) but his power numbers improved slightly (35 HR, 109 RBI). In 2007 Bay battled injuries all year but managed to play in 145 games. But his numbers were considerably down across the board: .247 average, 21 HR and 84 RBI. Fortunately in 2008 he returned to his pre-2007 form and proved last year's struggles were simply a fluke. Currently hitting .282 with 22 HR and 64 RBI, he easily could have been selected for his third All Star team. A decent fielder with decent speed (21 steals in '05), he also fits the Sox philosophy of patience at the plate. He's had 95+ walks 2 of the past 3 seasons, and 59 already this year. Skeptics say he has never played in front of maniacal fans like those in Boston or faced the pressure of a pennant race; both true. But he has also never hit in the type of lineup the Sox have (Doug Mientkiewicz was his lineup protection his final game in Pittsburgh), or gotten the type of protection he's about to receive. He will also have The Monster, which his swing is tailor-made to take advantage of. He is signed for one more year at $7 million, about 1/3 of what their old LF would have made. This weekend Jason Bay will get his first taste of Boston, his new teammates and fans, and we will get our first up close look at Jason Bay. I, for one, am really looking forward to the possibilities that lie ahead. Finally I'm ready to put all that has stressed me out recently behind me and let the Bay Days begin!
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From boston.com
Full name: Jason Raymond Bay.
He'll turn 30 on Sept. 20. He's 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and was born in Trail, B.C., Canada (population 7,237).
He and his wife, Kristen, have one daughter, Addison, who will turn 2 in November.
His sister, Lauren, is a professional softball player who pitched for Canada in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
He is reportedly friends with fellow Trail native and Edmonton Oilers center Shawn Horcoff, and hails from the same town as St. Louis Blues defenseman Barrett Jackman and 408-goal-scorer Ray Ferraro.
He played hockey as a youngster, but quit in favor of baseball.
Like many Canadian ballplayers, he grew up idolizing Larry Walker, also a B.C. native. He rooted for the Mariners as a kid. He was a member of the 1990 Trail Little League team that represented Canada in the Little League World Series.
He played two years at Gonzaga, earning first-team All-West Coast Conference honors as a junior and senior. He was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 22nd round, 2000.
New England connection: He started playing for the Vermont Expos of the New York-Penn League and played two seasons ('99, 2000) for the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod League.
He spent time in A-ball in 2002, hitting for average and power. He was dealt in March of that year to the Mets, who flipped him to the Padres for reliever Steve Reed at the 2002 trade deadline.
He made his MLB debut May 23, 2003. His first big-league hit was a ninth-inning homer off of Arizona reliever (and future Red Sox reliever) Matt Mantei.
An Elmer Dessens pitch fractured his wrist two days later and was sent to the minors for rehab.
He was a teammate of former Sox infielder and current NESN studio analyst Lou Merloni on the 2003 Padres.
In August 2003, he was traded with Oliver Perez and Cory Stewart to the Pirates for Brian Giles. He finished the year with a .287 average, 4 homers and 13 RBI in 87 at-bats. He reached base safely in his final 14 games, though he was bothered by a torn right labrum that required offseason surgery.
After the 2003 season, he signed one-year, $305,000 contract with Pittsburgh. He rehabbed in the minors until May, then recovered in time to have a breakout season. He hit .282 with 26 homers (a Pirates rookie record) and 82 RBIs that season and was a runaway choice for the 2004 NL Rookie of the Year, the first Pirate to win the award. He had little protection in the lineup, and the Pirates won 72 games.
Despite the lack of talent around him, Bay had a monster 2005, hitting .306 with 32 homers, 101 RBIs, 44 doubles, 110 runs and 21 steals, leading the Pirates in every major offensive category. Statistically, it was one of the best seasons in Pirates history.
That summer, he was selected to his first All-Star squad, but was the only player on either roster not to appear in the game. He did appear in the Home Run Derby, but didn't last long -- he produced 0 home runs in the first round. "I think a lot of people felt bad for me," he later told ESPN.com about his Derby doughnut. "But the bottom line is I just stunk."
He finished third in voting for Canada's Male Athlete of the Year in 2005, behind Steve Nash and Sidney Crosby.
He signed a four-year, $18.25-million extension in November 2005, receiving a one-year signing bonus. The deal paid him $750,000 in 2006, $3.25 million in 2006, $5.75 million in 2008 and $7.5 million next season. His agent is Joe Urbon, of Octagon Baseball, who played baseball professionally in the Phillies organization and who also represents Cleveland outfielder Grady Sizemore.
In 2006, he established career-highs in homers (35) and RBIs (109), hitting in a lineup with current Sox first baseman Sean Casey. He hit 10 homers in a 10-games span in May and had 20 bombs at the All-Star break.
He rode the hometown vote to the 2006 All-Star Game, held in Pittsburgh. The Pirates staged an aggressive marketing campaign to get Bay votes, and Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder urged fans to vote for Bay during a late June concert at Mellon Arena. Bay was sheepish about the publicity, saying that the attention was "very flattering. I never would imagine I'd be in this position with the names that are out there." He went 1 for 3 in the All-Star Game. He declined to appear in the Derby.
He was troubled by knee problems all season, usually icing it after games. In late November, he had a quick, 10-minute arthroscopic procedure to relieve irritation in his right knee (he walked out of the hospital).
In 2006, he represented Canada at the World Baseball Classic, leading his team to opening-round wins over South Africa and the US before they were crushed by Mexico.
Last season, he again led the struggling Pirates by hitting 21 homers and driving in 84 runs. He shared the team lead in homers with Adam LaRoche, the brother of then-Dodgers third baseman Andy LaRoche, who went to the Pirates in today's deal. He played in 15 of Pittsburgh's 28 games in September due to tendinitis in his right knee.
He made 142 starts in left field and despite an average (at best) arm, Bay ranked third among NL outfielders with a career-high 13 assists. Manny Ramirez had 8 assists in 2007.
In addition to left, Bay has played center field in the past. He spent time DH'ing in the minors.
He strikes out more than the average hitter, averaging 153 whiffs over a 162-game season. He is on pace for 130 this season. He averages 84 walks per 162 games, with a high of 102 in 2006.
He's not exceptionally fast, but is an intelligent base runner -- his steal-to-caught stealing ratio is 50-11 for his career (caught four times over the past four years).
This season, Bay is batting .282 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs while playing in all but two of the Pirates' games.
Super important stats: Bay is hitting .421 lifetime (8-19) against Andy Pettitte, .429 (3-7) against Mike Mussina and .500 (1-2) against Joba Chamberlain.
He wore No. 38 for the Pirates and No. 2 for the Padres. Curt Schilling said today he would give up his No. 38 -- for a fee, which would go to Schilling's Curt's Pitch charity.
I am very excited for Jason Bay. He is the kind of solid influence the clubhouse needs, and it was just really time for Manny to be gone. Much like Brett Favre here in Wisconsin, time runs its course on players sometimes, and this was manny's time.
Brandon Moss first at bat as a Pirate: Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Moss struck out swinging.
I wasnt saying that Moss and Hansen were irreplaceable commodities or that Theo didnt try. I just figured that trading one of the best hitters now and of all time would return a little more. Bay was one of the 3 guys i said i would have traded for.
But we have Bay and i'm excited about the start of a new era. I think once he gets used the monster being behind him he's gonna play a real good LF at Fenway. Its alot shorter of a LF than he used to playing and i think that he has gold glove potential now that he wont need to cover as much ground. Like alot of OF (not Manny) some of his errors have been from trying to cover too much ground.
Bay .985 carrer FPCT (21 errors)
Ramirez .979 (66 errors)
Manny has just over 3 times as many errors on only just over 2 times as many total chances.
In 722 games (career) Bay has 140 HRs
Thru 703 games (93'-98') Ramirez had 154 Hrs and he had more support around him. (Thome, Belle).
Bay if he stays healthy and plays in Boston for a long time could be another 500 HR club guy who played for the Sox.
Manny wearing #99 for the Dodgers is hilarious!
(Tribute to Gretzky?)
I realize that it was time for him to move on but I'm still going to enjoy his hilarious antics.
Great opening day for Bay. I loved the ovation from Sox fans before his first at bat. And to score both runs in a 2-1 win is nice too. This Manny would have legged out a triple on that one?
I also love that his dad, randomly, is a lifelong diehard Sox fan.
Favorite Bay quote so far: If I were a free agent this is where I would have chosen to play.
Let's hope he feels the same way after next season.
So far, so good.
Still, so far so good.
4 hit game last night. I know the guy wont hit .429 all year (at least I don't think so) but this is a pretty sweet start.
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