American baseball player (born 1979)
Baseball player
Gerald Lee Laird III
(born November 13, 1979) is an American former
professional baseball
catcher
. He played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) for the
Texas Rangers
,
Detroit Tigers
,
St. Louis Cardinals
,
Atlanta Braves
, and
Arizona Diamondbacks
.
Career
[
edit
]
Oakland Athletics
[
edit
]
Laird first attended
Rancho Alamitos High School
, and then later graduated from
La Quinta High School
in
Westminster, California
. He was chosen by the
Oakland Athletics
in the second round of the
1998 draft
, but held out for more money.
[1]
When the A's declined, Laird enrolled in
Cypress College
and led its baseball team to the Orange Empire Conference Championship.
[2]
In June 1999, Oakland and Laird negotiated a new contract. In his first minor league season, 1999, he played 60 games with the Low-A
Southern Oregon Timberjacks
and hit .285. He divided the 2000 season between the rookie-level
Arizona League Athletics
and High-A
Visalia Oaks
, but a broken wrist limited his playing time. Going into the 2001 season he was considered a top prospect until he tailed off to .255 with the
Modesto A's
.
[3]
Laird during his tenure with the
Texas Rangers in 2005
Texas Rangers
[
edit
]
Shortly before the 2002 season Oakland traded Laird to the
Texas Rangers
along with outfielder
Ryan Ludwick
,
Jason Hart
and
Mario Ramos
, for slugging
first baseman
Carlos Pena
and southpaw relief
pitcher
Mike Venafro
.
[4]
Texas assigned Laird to its Double-A
Tulsa Drillers
, where his strong defensive play and improved batting average (.276) drew plaudits.
[5]
He joined the Rangers for 2003
spring training
, but was soon farmed out to the Triple-A
Oklahoma RedHawks
. The parent club recalled him on April 30 when catcher
Todd Greene
went on the disabled list, and he made his major league debut the same day. But when Greene returned from the disabled list after 15 days, Laird was optioned back to Oklahoma. The Rangers recalled him again in September when the rosters expanded, and he remained with the big league club for the rest of the season. In his two stints with Texas, he got into only 19 games and hit .273 but at the end of the year was chosen for the
USA Baseball
squad.
[6]
Laird won the Rangers' starting catching job in 2004
spring training
after the
Einar Diaz
trade, but after dislocating his thumb in a
home plate
collision in May ended up on the
disabled list
and lost his starting job to
Rod Barajas
.
[7]
After spending most of the 2005 season in Triple-A, he was called up again as backup catcher for the Rangers in 2006. He went into that season well-regarded around the majors for his defensive skills.
[8]
Commented
San Diego Padres
general manager
Kevin Towers
: "The Rangers knew they had a commodity. The only way they were going to part with him was if some team grossly overpaid [in a trade]."
[9]
In 78 games in 2006, he hit an improved .296 with seven home runs, earning the starting catcher's job for 2007. New Ranger manager
Ron Washington
took a special interest in him during spring training: "I just want him to concentrate on making this pitching staff better and helping them to believe in him."
[10]
He was in the second most
double plays
among all MLB catchers despite being among the lowest in fielding chances.
[11]
[12]
[13]
Detroit Tigers
[
edit
]
Laird with the
Detroit Tigers in 2010
On December 8, 2008, he was traded to the
Detroit Tigers
for two
minor league
pitchers,
Carlos Melo
and
Guillermo Moscoso
.
[14]
The Tigers named him starting catcher ahead of
Dane Sardinha
and
Matt Treanor
, and Laird rewarded them with the highest caught-stealing throwing average in the American League.
[15]
In May 2010, while struggling offensively, Laird changed his jersey number from 8 to 12.
[16]
St. Louis Cardinals
[
edit
]
The
St. Louis Cardinals
signed Laird to a one-year contract for the 2011 season, where he won his first
World Series ring
as backup catcher to All-Star
Yadier Molina
.
[17]
Detroit Tigers (second stint)
[
edit
]
On November 18, 2011, the
Detroit Tigers
welcomed Laird back with a one-year contract for the 2012 season as backup catcher to
Alex Avila
while slugger
Victor Martinez
, often used as a DH rather than as a catcher in any event, was on the disabled list for the entire season. He rewarded them by hitting .282, often hitting DH, in the regular season and helping them come back from well behind the
Chicago White Sox
to win their second consecutive AL Central Division title, edge the powerful young upstart
Oakland Athletics
3?2 in the ALDS thanks to defending MVP
Justin Verlander
's stellar pitching in Games 1 & 5, and then sweep the suddenly discombobulated
New York Yankees
4?0 in the ALCS. Laird had the key hit that put the Tiger's ahead in Kansas City the night they beat the Royals to clinch the AL Central for 2012. He was in his second World Series in a row, which the Tigers lost to the
San Francisco Giants
4?0, and became a free agent on October 29.
[18]
Atlanta Braves
[
edit
]
After former
Braves
backup
David Ross
signed with
Boston
for a two-year contract early in the off-season, the Braves scavenged the open market for a backup catcher. They found Laird, signing him to a two-year, $3 million contract with up to $750,000 in performance bonuses based on games played.
[19]
With
Brian McCann
leaving in free agency, Laird handled the primary backup role to
Evan Gattis
in 2014. Laird ended his tenure with the Braves posting a .204 batting average.
[20]
Arizona Diamondbacks
[
edit
]
On February 2, 2015, he signed a minor league contract with the
Arizona Diamondbacks
.
[21]
A back injury sustained during the first month of the season ended Laird's season.
[22]
[23]
He was designated for assignment on August 20, 2015, and released on August 24.
[24]
[25]
Toros de Tijuana
[
edit
]
On June 16, 2016, Laird signed with the
Toros de Tijuana
of the
Mexican Baseball League
.
Minor league managing career
[
edit
]
He retired at the end of the 2016 season to become the manager of the Single-A
Detroit Tigers
affiliate, the
Connecticut Tigers
of the
New York?Penn League
.
[26]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Laird is represented by
sports agent
Scott Boras
.
[1]
His younger brother,
Brandon
has also played in MLB.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Laird to Play Baseball for Cypress College".
Los Angeles Times
. August 29, 1998. p. C12.
- ^
Kresal, Steve (May 9, 1999). "Smith's 3 Homers Lead Cypress to Title".
Los Angeles Times
. p. D14.
- ^
Dybal, Chuck (May 1, 2001). "Catcher has shot with A's lacking depth at position; Modesto's Laird could climb the ladder quickly after Hinch and Olivo were traded in the winter".
Contra Costa Times
. p. C03.
- ^
Saxon, Mark (January 15, 2002). "A's acquire first base prospect; Oakland gets Pena in six-player deal with the Rangers".
Oakland Tribune
.
- ^
"Drillers Update".
Tulsa World
. June 11, 2002. p. B3.
- ^
"USA Baseball Roster". Associated Press. October 28, 2003.
- ^
Sullivan, T.R. (May 22, 2004).
"Injuries piling up around the majors"
. Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. Archived from
the original
on October 11, 2013
. Retrieved
October 30,
2013
.
- ^
"Rangers Report".
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
. April 10, 2006. p. 5D.
- ^
Antonen, Mel (March 12, 2006).
"Teams place help wanted ads in search of catchers; Finding right balance on offense, defense proves elusive"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
October 1,
2013
.
- ^
Hawkins, Stephen (February 26, 2007).
"Laird finally has the starting job and a clear direction with Rangers"
.
ESPN.com
. Associated Press
. Retrieved
October 1,
2013
.
- ^
"Gerald Laird Stats ? St. Louis Cardinals ? ESPN"
. Sports.espn.go.com. November 13, 1979
. Retrieved
October 9,
2011
.
- ^
"Jarrod Saltalamacchia Stats"
. Sports.espn.go.com. May 2, 1985
. Retrieved
October 9,
2011
.
- ^
"2011 Postseason MLB Baseball 1B Fielding Statistics"
. Sports.espn.go.com
. Retrieved
October 9,
2011
.
- ^
"Tigers acquire Gerald Laird from Texas Rangers"
.
MLB.com
. December 8, 2008
. Retrieved
December 12,
2008
.
- ^
Grant, David (July 1, 2009). "The Three Fingers".
The Herald-Palladium
. p. C1.
- ^
Beck, Jason; Alex DiFilippo (May 29, 2010).
"Laird changes jersey number"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
March 19,
2014
.
- ^
"Cardinals sign Laird to be backup catcher"
.
MLB.com
. December 14, 2010.
- ^
"Tigers make it official: Gerald Laird will be backup catcher"
. freep.com. November 18, 2011.
- ^
"Laird gets two-year Braves deal"
. Msn.foxsports.com. November 19, 2012
. Retrieved
March 22,
2013
.
- ^
"Gerald Laird Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
November 1,
2016
.
- ^
Sanchez, Jesse (April 11, 2015). "Laird scratched with tight back, could be headed to DL".
MLB.com
.
- ^
Sanchez, Jesse (April 12, 2015).
"D-backs recall Schugel, place Laird on DL"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
October 30,
2016
.
- ^
Gilbert, Steve (April 13, 2015).
"Pacheco slides into D-backs' backup-catcher role"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
October 30,
2016
.
- ^
Bondy, Robert (August 20, 2015).
"D-backs put Hellickson on DL, recall Anderson"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
October 30,
2016
.
- ^
Gilbert, Steve (August 25, 2015).
"Chacin called up; Bradley off DL, to Triple-A"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
October 30,
2016
.
- ^
"Tigers Announce 2017 Coaching Staff"
.
milb.com
. December 13, 2016.
External links
[
edit
]