Damion Easley
| Damion Easley | |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays — No. 25 | |
| Third base | |
| Born: November 11, 1969 New York, NY |
|
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| Organizational debut | |
| April 3, 2003 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays | |
| Last organizational appearance | |
| June 3, 2003 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays | |
| Teams | |
Jacinto Damion Easley (born November 11, 1969, in New York, NY) was a third baseman for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Contents
Before the Devil Rays
Easley was drafted by the California Angels in the 30th round of the 1988 amateur draft, signing the following May.[1] Playing shortstop almost exclusively, he moved up to Triple-A Edmonton of the Pacific Coast League by the 1992 season and made his Major League debut for the Angels on August 13 of that year, playing third base.[1] He assumed a utility role, seeing time mostly at second and third base until he was moved at the trade deadline in 1996 to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Greg Gohr.
He saw limited playing time for Detroit immediately following the trade, but earned the starting role at second base for the Tigers beginning in the 1997 season. He was the Tigers' lone representative in the 1998 MLB All-Star Game, and before the 1999 season they signed him to a four-year, $26.3 million extension.[2] Easley also served as the Tigers' union representative during at least the 2002 season.[3]. He was released on March 28, 2003.
With the Devil Rays
Easley was signed by the Devil Rays as a free agent on April 2, 2003 following his release by the Detroit Tigers during Spring Training.[4] He had set a record for having the most money owed by a releasing team—$14.3 million for the 2003 and 2004 seasons (which was later broken when Anaheim released Kevin Appier with approximately $16 million left on his contract[5]). To make room on the 25-man roster for Easley, the Devil Rays optioned Brent Abernathy to Durham (the two games Abernathy played in before then were his last with the Devil Rays). Easley wound up starting 22 games at third base before his release in early June.
Departure and afterward
Easley sat out the remainder of the 2003 season. Later, he signed a minor league deal during the winter with the Marlins, including an invitation to Spring Training, and spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons with Florida. Later, he played with Arizona and the New York Mets.[1]
As of 2010, Easley was serving as an Executive Director and coach for Warrior's Baseball Academy.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Damion Easley Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/easleda01.shtml#trans. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Shpigel, Ben (March 18, 2007). "Easley Takes a Roundabout Route to the Mets". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/sports/baseball/18mets.html. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ "Tigers make payroll, give Easley power to vote on strike". SI.com. Associated Press. July 15, 2002. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/07/15/tigers_payroll_ap/. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Anderson, Chris (April 3, 2003). "Devil Rays Add Easley". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4PIeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JYQEAAAAIBAJ&dq=damion-easley%20devil-rays&pg=2360%2C2559505. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Miller, Doug (July 31, 2003). "Angels release Appier: Anaheim to eat roughly $16 million of contract". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030731&content_id=453149&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Moser, Greg (July 6, 2010). "Warrior Baseball Academy to Hold Baseball Camp for Youths 5-14". http://www.pr.com/press-release/246581. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Damion Easley on Wikipedia
- Damion Easley on SABR Encyclopedia
