Major league career Jason Bay

1 major league career

1.1 san diego padres (2003)
1.2 pittsburgh pirates (2003–2008)
1.3 boston red sox (2008–2009)
1.4 new york mets (2010–2012)
1.5 seattle mariners (2013)

major league career
san diego padres (2003)

bay debuted padres on may 23, 2003, getting first major league hit, home run, in ninth inning. 2 days later, suffered broken right wrist after being hit pitch.

pittsburgh pirates (2003–2008)

bay pirates in 2007 spring training

on august 26, 2003, bay traded pittsburgh pirates, along Óliver pérez , cory stewart in exchange brian giles. finished season .287 batting average, 4 home runs, , 14 rbi in 30 games.

bay began 2004 season on disabled list due surgery during offseason, , did not rejoin team until may. despite missing beginning of season, still produced best offensive numbers of national league rookie. batted .282 in 120 games, leading major league rookies in home runs (26) , rbis (82). led nl rookies in slugging percentage (.550), base hits (54) , total bases (226). 26 home runs, bay broke pirates rookies record of 23 set johnny rizzo in 1936 , matched ralph kiner in 1946. selected 2004 nl rookie of year sporting news, bay second pittsburgh pirates player honoured award, after second baseman johnny ray in 1982. bay first canadian player win award.

in 2005, bay selected first all-star game reserve outfielder. player on either roster not appear in game. bay appeared in 2005 century 21 home run derby, representing canada in nationality-themed contest; eliminated in first round after hitting no home runs. bay finished season .306 average, 32 home runs, , 101 rbi, leading pirates in every major hitting category.

after 2005 season, bay signed four-year contract extension worth guaranteed $18.25 million.

bay batted .321 12 home runs (a pirate record home runs in month) , 35 rbis in may 2006. may 22 may 28, hit home runs in 6 consecutive games, 2 short of major league record held dale long, don mattingly, , ken griffey, jr. had hit 10 home runs in ten games, had failed hit home run in 1 of games, , hit 2 next day.

following aggressive public relations campaign pirates in 2006, bay led national league outfielders in all-star voting. pearl jam lead singer eddie vedder urged fans vote bay during summer concert @ pittsburgh s mellon arena. bay became first member of pittsburgh pirates voted all-star game starter since andy van slyke. in game, bay went 1 3, single.

after battling injuries, bay s 2007 season less productive. despite having strong first couple of months, batted .247 21 home runs , 84 rbis.

bay had more productive 2008 pittsburgh, batting .282 22 home runs , 64 runs batted in through all-star break. in may series against chicago cubs, bay had extra-inning walk-off hits in back-to-back games; first 2 walk-off hits of career. month later, got third walk-off hit of season , career 13th-inning solo home run against tampa bay rays.

boston red sox (2008–2009)

on july 31, 2008, bay , player named later (josh wilson) traded boston red sox in 3 team deal sent manny ramirez los angeles dodgers , andy laroche bryan morris pittsburgh pirates dodgers , brandon moss craig hansen pirates red sox. in red sox debut, bay scored both runs, second coming after hit triple in bottom of 12th inning , scored game-winning run on jed lowrie rbi infield single. bay hit first home run boston next night against oakland athletics. in 1 game, hit multiple home runs against baltimore orioles @ oriole park. end 2008 season boston batting .293 9 home runs , 37 rbis.

bay batting red sox on august 18, 2008

the red sox 2008 american league division series against los angeles angels of anaheim first playoff series of bay s career. bay hit home run in each of first 2 games of series. bay finished series batting 7 17 (.412), 2 doubles, 2 home runs, , 5 rbis. in 2008 american league championship series, scored first run in game one. in game two, opened door red sox two-run double , home run in fifth inning. however, red sox lost in 7 games.

in 2009, after strong first half included all-star selection, bay went on lead red sox career-high 36 home runs , 119 rbis during regular season. in season, had streak of 11 home runs men on base, tying team record , falling 1 shy of major league record.

in 2009, named #41 on sporting news list of 50 greatest current players in baseball.

he filed free agency after season, turning down red sox s offer of salary arbitration.

new york mets (2010–2012)

jason bay in 2011 met

on december 29, 2009, bay agreed four-year, $66 million contract new york mets, included vesting option fifth year. general manager omar minaya, engineered deal, traded bay mets in 2002 when gm montreal expos. on january 5, 2010, minaya , jeff wilpon held press conference @ citi field in jason bay presented uniform, number 44 mets. red sox received 39th (anthony ranaudo) , 57th (brandon workman) selections in 2010 major league baseball draft compensation.

on april 27, in first game of double header against los angeles dodgers, bay hit first home run member of new york mets in bottom of fourth inning give mets 2–0 lead. mets went on win first game, 4–0, , win second game, 10–5.

in first season mets, bay played in 95 games. suffered concussion in game against dodgers, when ran fenced wall , head jerked back. finished season .259 batting average, 6 home runs (he hit 36 year before), 47 rbis, , scored 48 runs.

bay began 2011 on disabled list rib injury , returned mets on april 21 in game against houston astros. on day (a 9–1 mets win), bay batted , scored in 8th on rare four-base error when hunter pence failed catch bay s fly ball; david wright, on first base walk, scored ahead of him. bay had ground-rule double , scored run in 4th inning. on june 28, 2011, bay hit grand slam off of detroit tigers pitcher daniel schlereth. first grand slam mets since Ángel pagán hit 1 on august 1, 2009. on august 8, bay hit 200th career home run against san diego padres, becoming third canadian mlb player after larry walker , matt stairs reach milestone. bay hit grand slam in september en route winning fifth career national league player of week award.

bay got off slow start 2012 season, finishing spring training no home runs or rbi, , regular season, derailed further broken rib suffered while making diving catch in april 23 game against san francisco giants. when bay returned dl on june 8, 2012 against new york yankees, went 0-for-3 1 strikeout. continued go 0-for-16 in return dl through june 12, before hitting single on june 13 against tampa bay rays. in home game against cincinnati reds on june 15, bay left game in second inning after crashing left field wall , suffering concussion while attempting catch fly ball jay bruce became inside-the-park home run. subsequently placed on dl again, , returned again on july 17 against washington nationals. on september 2, bay hit grand slam off of miami marlins pitcher mark buehrle in first inning of 5–2 mets win. bay hit home run off of buehrle on september 22 in 4–3 mets win. bay finished 2012 season .165 batting average, 8 home runs , 20 rbi.

on november 7, 2012, mets , bay agreed terminate contract year , make outfielder unrestricted free agent.

seattle mariners (2013)

bay mariners

on december 8, 2012, seattle mariners signed jason bay one-year $1 million deal. bay appeared in 68 games mariners , batted .204 11 home runs , 20 rbi before being designated assignment on july 29, 2013. bay released on august 6.

on march 31, 2014, bay officially announced retirement professional baseball.