Jacoby Ellsbury

[Sweet Lu]

Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury (first name pronounced /dʒəˈkoʊbi/ jə-koh-bee); born September 11, 1983) is an American professional baseball center fielder with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Ellsbury attended Madras High School where he was a 4-year letterman in football and baseball, and played varsity basketball his sophomore through senior year. Ellsbury's career batting average of .567 and being caught stealing only once are Oregon High School State Records. He also holds the Oregon record for stolen bases in a game with 7. Ellsbury was first drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB Draft but did not sign. He was then drafted 23rd overall by Boston in 2005, after three years at Oregon State University.

Ellsbury is officially enrolled as a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes[1] and is the first Native American of Navajo descent to reach the Major Leagues.[2] As of 2008, he was one of only three active non-Hispanic Native American players in Major League Baseball, along with Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals and Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees.[citation needed] Ellsbury is English and German on his paternal side

Early lifeEllsbury was born September 11, 1983, in Madras, Oregon, to Jim and Margie Ellsbury, the oldest of four children. Growing up with Little League Baseball, he often played on a team with kids up to three years his senior though he was still the fastest and best player on the team. In high school, Ellsbury lettered in football and baseball for four years and in basketball for three. He hit .681 and had 82 stolen bases his senior year in baseball and averaged 15.6 points per game and had an average of 3.4 blocks per game in basketball. He finished his football career with 12 interceptions and 5 kickoff returns for touchdowns.

[edit] Professional career[edit] 2005Ellsbury began his professional career on July 14, 2005, with the Lowell Spinners in the short season Single-A New York-Penn League. From the start, he showed that his patience and great speed were an asset when he led off the game by walking on a 3–2 pitch, stealing second, continuing to third on a throwing error and then scoring on a wild pitch.[citation needed] On September 7, he tied a Lowell team record with three stolen bases in a game. He finished the season batting .317 with 23 stolen bases in 35 games.[citation needed]

Ellsbury was named Red Sox Minor League Base Stealer of the Month for July, when he went a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.[citation needed]

[edit] 2006Jacoby Ellsbury began the season as the number six prospect in the Red Sox organization[4] with the Single-A Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League. On July 3 he tied a Wilmington franchise record by stealing four bases in a game.[citation needed] After batting .299 with 25 steals in 61 games and being named to the 2006 Carolina League All-Star team, he was promoted to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League on July 12.[5]

Soon after his promotion to Portland, he was named Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of August 6–13 for batting .400 along with his first Double-A home run and hitting safely in seven straight games.[6] Ellsbury finished the Double-A season in Portland batting .308 with 16 steals in 50 games. He was selected by the Red Sox as their minor league Defensive Player of the Year and Base Runner of the Year[citation needed] and given a roster spot on the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League, an off-season developmental league for top prospects.[citation needed] In the AFL, he hit only .276 in 25 games but his defensive skill was enough to earn him a spot in the AFL Rising Stars All-Star game.[citation needed]

[edit] 2007[edit] Spring trainingEllsbury participated in the Red Sox 2007 spring training camp in Fort Myers, Florida as a non-roster invitee and was assigned to the minor league camp on March 9.[citation needed] He was rated the number one prospect in the Red Sox organization,[7], the number 33 prospect in baseball for 2007 by Baseball America[8] and the number 43 prospect by Sports Illustrated.[9]

[edit] Minor league playHe started the 2007 season as the starting center fielder for the Sea Dogs and was promoted to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox on May 4, 2007, after batting .452 in 17 games at Portland and being named the Eastern League Player of the Month for April.[citation needed] He was chosen to play in the 2007 All-Star Futures Game as part of the MLB All-Star festivities at AT&T Park in San Francisco.[10] He went 0–4 in the game.[citation needed]

Ellsbury set a new consecutive game hitting streak record for Pawtucket on August 24, 2007,[11] besting the mark that had been held by both Dave Stapleton and Dave Berg at 19 consecutive games. His streak ended at 25 games on August 31 with an 0–4 outing.[citation needed]

Ellsbury finished the Triple-A season with 33 stolen bases, tied for second in the International League with Darnell McDonald of the Rochester Red Wings, and one behind leader Bernie Castro of the Columbus Clippers. Although Castro had 34 steals in 118 games, and McDonald 33 steals in 134 games, Ellsbury's 33 steals came in just 87 games.[citation needed]

For the second consecutive season, the Red Sox selected Ellsbury as their minor league Defensive Player of the Year and Baserunner of the Year.[12]

[edit] Major league play

Ellsbury leading off of first against the Baltimore Orioles.With an injury to Coco Crisp, Ellsbury had his contract purchased and received a call-up to the Red Sox on June 30, 2007, where he made his MLB debut in center field and hit ninth against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park[13] wearing number 46. He got his first major league hit against Robinson Tejeda of the Rangers in the bottom of the third inning of that game. His first career stolen base came off pitcher Brandon McCarthy and catcher Gerald Laird of the Rangers on July 2, and he also impressed in that game when he scored from second base on a wild pitch.[14] Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame member Johnny Pesky described the play as "the greatest single play I've ever seen in all my years in baseball".[15] He was optioned back to Pawtucket on July 5 after appearing in six games for the Red Sox.[16]

On August 17, he was recalled for the second game of a doubleheader where he led off and played center field.[17] He was then optioned back to Pawtucket after the game.[18]

On September 1, when the Major League rosters expanded to 40 players, he was again recalled to the Red Sox[citation needed] and on September 2 he hit his first major league home run off Daniel Cabrera of the Baltimore Orioles in the bottom of the fourth inning, a solo shot which landed in the Red Sox bullpen.[citation needed]

The New York Times described him in a September 2007 article as a "cult hero" who brings "speed, improved defense, and unbridled enthusiasm."[19]

He was named MLB's American League Rookie of the Month for September 2007 [20] and, with fewer than 130 major league at-bats, still qualified as a rookie for the 2008 season.

During the 2007 postseason, with Coco Crisp struggling, Ellsbury got the start in center field for Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Indians, starting every subsequent postseason game. In eleven total postseason games, he hit .360 in 25 at-bats with two stolen bases.[citation needed]

On October 27, with his two doubles off Josh Fogg in top of the third inning of Game 3 of the World Series, he became the first rookie to hit two doubles in the same inning of a World Series game.[citation needed] After hitting another double off Brian Fuentes in the eighth inning, he became the fourth rookie ever to hit three doubles in a World Series game.[citation needed] His four hits, including a single in the first inning, made him only the third rookie to ever accomplish the feat in the World Series, after Freddie Lindstrom in 1924 and Joe Garagiola in 1946.[citation needed] For the World Series, he batted .438 with four doubles and a stolen base.[citation needed]

[edit] 2008Heading into the 2008 season, Ellsbury was ranked as the #13 prospect by Baseball America,[21] the #16 prospect by Baseball Prospectus[22] and the #19 prospect by ESPN Scouts Inc.[23] All ranked him as the #2 prospect in the Red Sox organization behind Clay Buchholz.

Ellsbury hit .224, with .291 On-base percentage (OBP), and a .347 Slugging Percentage in sixteen spring training games and started in center field for the 2008 Major League Baseball season opener against the Oakland Athletics on March 25 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. He hit his first home run of the season on April 6 off Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre leading off the top of the 3rd inning. He stole his first base of the season on April 12, off Mike Mussina and Jose Molina of the New York Yankees in the bottom of the first inning.[citation needed]

On April 22, Ellsbury had his first career multi-home run game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He hit one solo shot off a Jered Weaver pitch in the first inning, and another off a Darren O'Day pitch in the sixth.[citation needed]

On May 18 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park, Ellsbury was caught stealing on a pitch-out in the fourth inning, which ended a streak of 25 consecutive stolen bases to begin his career, two shy of the major league record held by Tim Raines in 1979.[24] On May 30 with three steals against the Baltimore Orioles, he became the first Red Sox player to steal more than two bases in a game since Jerry Remy stole four on June 14; 1980; he then stole another three bases in the next game, and one more in the third game of the series, for a total of seven.[citation needed]

On June 15, Ellsbury stole his 32nd base of the season, breaking the Red Sox rookie record, set 100 years earlier by Amby McConnell.[citation needed]

He finished the season with 50 steals to lead the American League[citation needed] and put him third on the list of Red Sox all-time stolen base leaders for a single season, behind Tommy Harper (54) in 1973 and Tris Speaker (52) in 1912.[citation needed] He has also garnered praise for his defense in the outfield,[who?] having played 178 games (1,430 innings) without committing an error in his major league career.[citation needed]

Ellsbury finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, behind Evan Longoria of Tampa Bay and Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox.[25]

[edit] 2008 postseasonEllsbury hit .333, with a .400 OBP and a .567 Slugging Percentage with three stolen bases in the American League Division Series, in which the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3–1 in the best-of-five series.[citation needed]

In the second inning of Game 3 of the ALDS, Ellsbury hit the first three-run single in postseason history when Howie Kendrick and Torii Hunter let a pop-up fall to the ground between them.[26] Shortly after, he stole second base.

After going 0–14 in the first three games of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Ellsbury was benched in favor of Coco Crisp with only a pinch hitting at-bat in game 4.[citation needed] He did not play in games 5, 6 or 7, as the Sox eventually lost the series 4 games to 3.

[edit] 2009

Ellsbury at bat against the Tampa Bay Rays in September, 2009.On April 12, Ellsbury played his 179th straight regular-season game without an error, breaking Mike Greenwell’s Red Sox franchise record for outfielders.[citation needed] and on April 15, with six errorless chances, passed Coco Crisp for most errorless total chances by a center fielder, setting a new Red Sox franchise record of 433.[citation needed]

On April 26, in a game against the New York Yankees, Ellsbury stole home while Andy Pettitte was in his windup. According to the April 26 edition of SportsCenter, Ellsbury's was the first steal of home plate by a Red Sox player with no other runners attempting to steal since Jeff Frye stole home in a game in 1999 and it was the first steal of home plate with no squeeze attempt or other runners attempting to steal (a "pure" steal of home) since Billy Hatcher in 1994. Following his return to the dugout after the steal, Red Sox fans called Ellsbury back for a curtain call for his performance.[citation needed]

On May 20, Ellsbury tied a major league record for outfielders with twelve putouts in a nine-inning game, tying Earl Clark of the Boston Braves who did it against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10, 1929 and Lyman Bostock of the Minnesota Twins who did it against the Red Sox on May 25, 1977.[27]

On May 27, Ellsbury went 0–3 to snap a 22-game hitting streak.[citation needed]

On June 17, Ellsbury's streak of 232 games and 554 chances without an error ended at Fenway when he had a ball hit by Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins go off the top of his glove in the top of the first inning. It was the longest errorless streak by an outfielder in Red Sox history.[28]

On August 21, Ellsbury tied Tommy Harper's Red Sox single season record for stolen bases (54), in a game against the New York Yankees, again facing Pettitte.[citation needed] Ellsbury then broke the record with his 55th steal on August 25, against the Chicago White Sox.[citation needed]

Ellsbury led the American League in stolen bases for the second consecutive year in 2009 with 70.[citation needed] He also led the AL in triples with 10.[citation needed]

Ellsbury won Defensive Player of the Year in MLB.com's annual This Year in Baseball Awards 2009.[citation needed]

[edit] 2010

During the offseason, Ellsbury changed his uniform number (with permission from the Red Sox and MLB) from 46 to 2. The number 2 had belonged to Brad Mills, the Red Sox' former bench coach, who left the organization to become the manager of the Houston Astros. Ellsbury has also worn number 23 in the past, but not in the majors.[citation needed]

With the Red Sox signing free agent center fielder Mike Cameron and not re-signing left fielder Jason Bay, Ellsbury was moved to the starting left field position from center field. Ellsbury spent a considerable amount of time playing left field during the 2007 playoffs in late innings when players were being substituted, before earning the primary job in center field over Coco Crisp. The move was made as the result of Cameron's experience in center and inexperience in left. Ellsbury tends to play more flexibly and can thus be moved. Manager Terry Francona expressed excitement over the prospect of playing a true center fielder in left field, creating a larger fielding range and more aggressive style.[29]

On April 11, Ellsbury collided with Red Sox third baseman Adrián Beltré, in a game against the Kansas City Royals. The collision resulted in hairline fractures to four of his left ribs. He was put on the 15-day disabled list on April 20. Ellsbury returned to the Red Sox on May 22.[citation needed]

On May 28, Ellsbury returned to the 15-day DL after playing in only three games due to residual soreness in his left ribs from the collision with Beltré. He met with a thoracic specialist, who advised him that his ribs should be further along in the healing process before he would be able to play.[citation needed] On July 26, Ellsbury started his rehab assignment with Single-A Lowell Spinners.[30] He rejoined the Red Sox on August 4.[citation needed] On August 9, he was the first baserunner since 1998 to steal four bases against the Yankees.[citation needed]

On August 14, Ellsbury was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the third time in 2010 after re-injuring himself in a game against the Texas Rangers.[31] He did not play again in 2010.[32]

[edit] Personal lifeEllsbury was one of the victims of the $8 billion dollar fraud perpetrated by wealth manager Allen Stanford;[33] although Ellsbury had some assets frozen, it did not cause him any significant hardship, like those suffered by Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady.[34]

[edit] PhilanthropyIn 2010, Ellsbury released a Zinfandel wine called ZinfandEllsbury through Charity Wines with 100% of his proceeds donated across three charities: The Navajo Relief Fund, Project Bread: The Walk for Hunger, and Ellsbury Read Project. The wine launched alongside a charity wine by Boston Red Sox teammate Josh Beckett, called Chardon-K.[35]

Jacoby Ellsbury was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), but as reported in the Boston Globe in 2008,[36] he and his three brothers stopped attending services when Jacoby was a teenager. He said, "I try not to get Him too involved in baseball. What I wish for is good health."

[Sweet Lu]

Career statistics[edit] Amateur careerSeason Team – League Age AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO OBP SLG

2002 Bend Pacific International League 18 .357 31 82 19 29 5 2 1 12 14 0 9 7 .463 .500

2003 Oregon State NCAA 19 .230 53 206 56 47 10 3 7 33 14 4 26 33 .427 .510

2003 Anchorage Alaska Baseball League 19 .338 39 145 24 49 3 3 1 13 16 8 18 12 .421 .427

2004 Oregon State NCAA 20 .352 49 196 56 69 8 2 3 20 20 4 30 17 .464 .459

2004 Falmouth Cape Cod League 20 .245 28 110 20 27 2 3 1 7 12 3 17 25 .376 .345

2005 Oregon State NCAA 21 .406 58 244 56 99 19 3 6 48 26 8 36 21 .495 .582

2002 Pacific International League All-Star

2003 Freshman Second Team NCAA All-American

2004 Pac-10 Conference All-Star

2005 Pac-10 Conference Co-Player of the Year

2005 Pac-10 Conference All-Star

2005 First Team NCAA All-American

[edit] Minor League careerSeason Team League Age AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO OBP SLG

2005 Lowell A 21 .317 35 139 28 44 3 5 1 19 23 3 24 20 .418 .432

2006 Wilmington A 22 .299 61 244 35 73 7 5 4 32 25 9 25 28 .379 .418

2006 Portland AA 22 .308 50 198 29 61 10 3 3 19 16 8 24 25 .387 .434

2006 Peoria Arizona Fall League 23 .276 25 105 18 29 4 3 0 3 7 3 8 16 .342 .371

2007 Portland AA 23 .452 17 73 16 33 10 2 0 13 8 1 6 7 .518 .644

2007 Pawtucket AAA 23 .298 87 363 66 108 14 5 2 28 33 12 32 47 .360 .380

2006 Carolina League All-Star

2006 Eastern League Player of the Week – August 6–13

2006 Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year

2006 Red Sox Minor League Base Runner of the Year

2006 Arizona Fall League Rising Stars

2007 Eastern League Player of the Month – April

2007 XM All-Star Futures Game

2007 Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year

2007 Red Sox Minor League Base Runner of the Year

[edit] Major League careerSeason Team League AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO OBP SLG

2007 Boston AL .115 33 116 20 41 7 1 3 18 9 0 8 67 .394 .509

2008 Boston AL .280 145 554 98 155 22 7 9 47 50 11 41 80 .336 .394

2009 Boston AL .301 153 624 94 188 27 10 8 60 70 12 49 74 .355 .415

3 Years – – .297 331 1294 212 384 56 18 20 125 129 23 98 169 .350 .414

Through End of 2009 Season (October 5, 2009)

2007 American League Rookie of the Month – September

2008 Red Sox rookie single season stolen bases record

2008 American League stolen base leader

2009 All time Red Sox single season stolen bases record

2009 MLB Stolen Base Leader