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David DeJesus

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David DeJesus
DeJesus with the Tampa Bay Rays
Outfielder
Born: (1979-12-20) December 20, 1979 (age 44)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 2, 2003, for the Kansas City Royals
Last MLB appearance
September 23, 2015, for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
MLB statistics
Batting average.275
Home runs99
Runs batted in573
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

David Christopher DeJesus (/dəˈheɪsuːs/; born December 20, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. DeJesus, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is currently an analyst for the Cubs with NBC Sports Chicago.

Career

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DeJesus was raised in Manalapan Township, New Jersey,[1] and played high school baseball at Manalapan High School.[2] He was drafted out of high school by the New York Mets in the 43rd round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft. DeJesus did not sign with the Mets, opting instead to attend Rutgers University. In 1998 he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) for the Bourne Braves, and returned to the CCBL in 1999 with the Chatham A's where he was named a league all-star.[3][4][5] DeJesus was drafted in the fourth round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas City Royals

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DeJesus made his Major League debut on September 2, 2003. After Carlos Beltrán was traded to the Houston Astros in 2004, DeJesus became the starting center fielder for the Royals. He finished sixth in the 2004 Rookie of the Year voting. On March 9, 2006, DeJesus signed a five-year, $13.8 million contract extension with the Royals through 2010, with a club option for the 2011 season.[6] On June 15, 2008, De Jesus hit the first grand slam of his career. This prompted the game caller to remark, "He smashed the living DeJesus out of that ball!"[7]

In 2010, DeJesus was in threat of being traded along with his fellow starting outfielders, Scott Podsednik and José Guillén, who were both traded. DeJesus, on the other hand, tore a tendon on his right thumb crashing into a fence in Yankee Stadium on July 22 trying to catch a fly ball by New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter that eventually ended up being an inside-the-park home run for Jeter and had season-ending surgery.[8] DeJesus was hoping to return to the team in September, but instead was moved to the 60-Day DL.[9] He finished the 2010 season batting .318 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs in 352 at-bats.[10]

On October 2, 2010, the Royals picked up his $6 million club option for 2011.

Oakland Athletics

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DeJesus during his tenure with the Oakland Athletics in 2011

On November 11, 2010, DeJesus was traded to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher Vin Mazzaro and minor league pitcher Justin Marks. He finished his lone season with Oakland batting .240 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs in 131 games.

Chicago Cubs

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On November 30, 2011, DeJesus signed a two-year deal worth $10 million, to be the primary right fielder for the Chicago Cubs.[11]

In 2013, due to the signing of Nate Schierholtz, DeJesus moved to center field for the 2013 season.

Washington Nationals

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On August 19, 2013, DeJesus was traded to the Washington Nationals for a player to be named later.[12] He appeared in three games for the Nationals, going 0-for-3.

Tampa Bay Rays

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On August 23, the Nationals traded DeJesus to the Tampa Bay Rays for future considerations.[13] DeJesus got off to a hot start with the Rays culminating in a walk-off single in the 18th inning against the Baltimore Orioles scoring Desmond Jennings.[14]

On November 6, 2013, DeJesus re-signed [15] with the Rays, inking a two-year, $10.5 million deal. The Rays, without a true designated hitter, put DeJesus in that role in 2014, where he appeared the most. On June 19, DeJesus was placed on the disabled list with a left hand fracture on a check swing the previous day.[16] He was hitting .269 with 5 HR and 17 RBI in 62 games before the injury. He was leading the team with a .367 OBP and a .440 SLG.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

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On July 28, 2015, DeJesus was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for minor league pitcher Eduar Lopez.[17][18]

Retirement

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On March 22, 2017, DeJesus announced his retirement.[19]

Personal life

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DeJesus was married to former high school art teacher and The Amazing Race 23 contestant Kim DeJesus (née Iliff).[20] Together, they have a son named David Kingston DeJesus Jr. He goes by the name Kingston.

References

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  1. ^ DeJesus: Baseball beginnings Archived March 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Major League Baseball, October 28, 2003. Accessed February 20, 2008. "My name is David DeJesus. I was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Manalapan, New Jersey."
  2. ^ David DeJesus player profile, Kansas City Royals. Accessed July 19, 2007. "Full name is David Christopher DeJesus...graduated from Manalapan (N.J.) High in 1997"
  3. ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "1999 Chatham As". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "Cape Cod Baseball League 1999 All-Star Teams". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  6. ^ Kaegel, Dick (March 9, 2006). "Notes: DeJesus inks long-term deal Contract runs gh 2010 with club option for 2011". MLB.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
  7. ^ "De Jesús y Posada producen en grande" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. June 17, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  8. ^ "Royals' DeJesus needs surgery; out 10 weeks". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 23, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  9. ^ "David DeJesus". ESPN.com.
  10. ^ "David DeJesus 2010 Batting Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  11. ^ Muskat, Carrie (November 30, 2011). "Cubs sign DeJesus to play right field". MLB.com. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  12. ^ Perry, Dayn (August 19, 2013). "Nationals acquire David DeJesus from Cubs". CBSSports.com.
  13. ^ "Rays acquire David DeJesus from Nationals".
  14. ^ "Orioles 4, Rays 5 (Final Score) on MLB Gameday". Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  15. ^ "DeJesus, Rays agree to $10.5M, 2-year deal". ESPN.com. November 6, 2013.
  16. ^ Mooney, Roger (June 19, 2014). "Rays place DeJesus on DL". The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  17. ^ Gonzalez, Alden (July 28, 2015). "Angels acquire outfielders DeJesus, Murphy". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  18. ^ Angels [@Angels] (July 28, 2015). "Today the #Angels have acquired OF David DeJesus from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHP Eduar Lopez" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ Baer, Bill (March 22, 2017). "David DeJesus retires". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  20. ^ "MLB wives Nicky Getz, Kim DeJesus team up on The Amazing Race". MLB.com.
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