Travis Blackley | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: Melbourne, Australia | 4 November 1982|
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
Professional debut | |
MLB: 1 July, 2004, for the Seattle Mariners | |
KBO: 3 April, 2011, for the Kia Tigers | |
NPB: 25 May, 2014, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | |
Last appearance | |
MLB: 13 September, 2013, for the Texas Rangers | |
KBO: 2011, for the Kia Tigers | |
NPB: 2014, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | |
MLB statistics | |
Win–loss record | 9–9 |
Earned run average | 5.23 |
Strikeouts | 132 |
KBO statistics | |
Win–loss record | 7–5 |
Earned run average | 3.48 |
Strikeouts | 115 |
NPB statistics | |
Win–loss record | 1–2 |
Earned run average | 5.54 |
Strikeouts | 7 |
Teams | |
Travis Jarred Blackley (born 4 November 1982) is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners,San Francisco Giants,Oakland Athletics,Houston Astros,and Texas Rangers. Blackley also played in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers,in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles,in the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) for the Pericos de Puebla,in Liga Mexicana del Pacifico on the Aguilas de Mexicali and the Naranjeros de Hermosillo and the Brisbane Bandits &Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). Travis currently plays club ball for the Twin City Baseball Club in the Gold Coast Baseball Association Division 1 winter league.
Blackley was signed by the Seattle Mariners as an undrafted free agent on 29 October 2000. He began his professional career with the Single-A Everett AquaSox in 2001. He had a 6–1 record with a 3.32 ERA in 14 starts. He also had 90 strikeouts in 78⅔innings and held opponents to a .211 batting average.
He pitched for the Single-A San Bernardino Stampede in 2002,going 5–9 and 3.49 in 21 games,starting all but one. He had 152 strikeouts in 121.1 innings,second among all Mariner minor leaguers.
He was promoted to the Double-A San Antonio Missions in 2003,the most impressive of his minor league career. He led the Texas League with 17 wins;was second in ERA (2.61),fourth in strikeouts (144) and fourth in innings pitched (162.1). His 17 wins were the most by a Texas League pitcher since Jeff Reardon of the Jackson Mets in 1978.
He pitched in the Texas League postseason All-Star game and was named to the World squad in the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at U.S. Cellular Field on 15 July. The Mariners also named him their minor league pitcher of the year.
In 2004, Baseball America designated him as #63 out of the top 100 minor league prospects,the third best prospect in the Mariners' system behind pitchers Félix Hernández and Clint Nageotte and their top left-handed prospect. He began the season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. The Mariners,after trading Freddy García to the Chicago White Sox,needed another starter and purchased Blackley's contract on 1 July 2004. He made his major league debut on that same day against the Texas Rangers and beat them,allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in 5⅔innings. He became just the sixth Mariner pitcher in the team's history to start and win his major league debut.
After spending a month with the major league club going only 1–3 with a 10.04 ERA in 6 starts,Blackley was optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma on 1 August 2004. He had an 8–6 record with a 3.83 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) with Tacoma in 2004 before ending the season on the disabled list with left shoulder tendinitis. He missed the entire 2005 season recovering from left shoulder surgery.
In March 2006,Blackley was slated to play in the World Baseball Classic with team Australia but was scratched to continue rehabbing his shoulder.
He spent most of 2006 with Double-A San Antonio. After going 8–11 and 4.06 in 25 starts in Double-A,he was promoted back to Triple-A Tacoma at the end of August where he made 2 starts going 1–1 and 4.09.
On 1 April 2007,after spring training,he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Jason Ellison and was immediately optioned to Triple-A Fresno,pitching the entire season in the minor leagues with the Grizzlies. He went 10–8 with a 4.66 ERA in 28 starts. He was recalled on 21 September,and on 23 September made his first major league start since 31 July 2004 against the Cincinnati Reds. He won his Giant debut,giving up two runs in the first inning and three hits in five innings,walking four and striking out five.
After being outrighted off the San Francisco roster on 6 December 2007,Blackley was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft.
Philadelphia put him on waivers towards the end of 2008 spring training. The Giants did not reclaim him,and the Phillies outrighted him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He became a free agent at the end of the season.
On 19 December 2008,he signed a major league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. [1] On 1 April 2009,the D'backs outrighted him to Triple-A Reno. [2]
Blackley began the 2010 season with the New York Mets' AAA affiliate Buffalo Bisons,but the Mets released him on 2 May.
On 13 May 2010,he signed with the Oakland Athletics who assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate,the Sacramento River Cats.
He ended up with the Kia Tigers in the KBO League in 2011. In 25 appearances,he had a record of 7 wins and 5 losses with an ERA of 3.48. [3]
On 16 February 2012,he signed a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants with an invitation to spring training. [4] On 1 May,the Giants purchased his contract and called him up from Triple-A Fresno. He pitched 4 games in relief for the Giants before being designated for assignment on 13 May.
Two days later,on 15 May 2012,the Oakland Athletics claimed him off waivers and signed him. He made his first appearance for the A's on 18 May in relief against the Giants. On 28 May,he started his first game for the team,against the Twins,and was added to the starting rotation. He finished with a 6–4 record and a 3.86 ERA for the season with the A's.
On 4 April 2013,the Oakland Athletics traded Blackley to the Houston Astros for outfielder Jake Goebbert. He was designated for assignment on 9 August 2013.
On 14 August 2013,the Houston Astros traded Blackley to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later. Ironically,Blackley's first appearance with the Rangers was against the Astros on 20 August 2013. Blackley started and pitched 4 innings,allowing 2 runs,as the Rangers won 4–2.
Blackley signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in December 2013. [5]
On 12 January 2015,Blackley signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants.
On 25 April 2015,Blackley announced that he had signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins. [6]
On 19 April 2016,Blackley signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League.
On 20 December 2016,Blackely signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. [7] He was released on 1 April 2017.
On 10 April 2017,Blackley signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican Baseball League. After a rough start to the season,he was released on 7 May 2017.
On 6 July 2017,Blackley signed with the Pittsburg Diamonds of the Pacific Association. He re-signed with the team for the 2018 season.
Travis made the 35-man roster of the Melbourne Aces for the inaugural Australian Baseball League season in 2010. On 2 December 2010,he was activated onto the 22-man roster and made his debut for the Aces on 5 December starting against the Sydney Blue Sox and pitching a rain-shortened one-hit shutout. He had previously played for the Victoria Aces in the Australian semiprofessional Claxton Shield.
Blackley signed with the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League for the 2015 season where he helped the Bandits to their first Claxton Shield victory since the re-establishment of the ABL in 2010. He resigned for the 2018 season.
On February 6,2021,Blackley announced his retirement from professional baseball via Twitter. [8]
Blackley was selected for the Australian national baseball team at the 2007 Baseball World Cup,2009 World Baseball Classic,2017 World Baseball Classic,and 2018 exhibition games against Japan.
Blackley was first selected for Australia in the 2006 World Baseball Classic,but did not play due to an ongoing shoulder injury (as cited above). He debuted for Australia in the 2007 Baseball World Cup and went 0–1 and 1.64 ERA for the tournament,his only loss coming against the Japan when Tadashi Settsu threw a shutout against Australia in the quarter-final,with Australia finishing 5th. He again pitched for Australia in the 2009 World Baseball Classic,earning a no-decision against Cuba and a 1.59 ERA for the tournament.
On 20 February 2018,he was selected exhibition games against Japan. [9]
Blackley has a son,Tristan (born 6 January 2005) from a previous marriage.[ citation needed ] Travis married Jenna Blackley on 14 November 2015. They have a son,Bodhi (born 29 November 2016.)[ citation needed ] His younger brother,Adam Blackley,formerly played in the Boston Red Sox farm system [10] as well as for the Melbourne Aces in the ABL and the L&D Amsterdam in the Dutch league Honkbal Hoofdklasse.[ citation needed ] He is an avid supporter of Essendon Football Club.
Brett Daniel Tomko is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds,San Diego Padres,Seattle Mariners,St. Louis Cardinals,San Francisco Giants,Los Angeles Dodgers,New York Yankees,Oakland Athletics,Texas Rangers,and Kansas City Royals.
Sean William Green is an American former professional baseball pitcher.
Fabio Enrique Castro,is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher,who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies,from 2006 to 2007.
Mark Christopher Lowe is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) Seattle Mariners,Texas Rangers,Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,Cleveland Indians,Toronto Blue Jays,and Detroit Tigers. His fastball has been clocked as high as 101 mph. He also throws a slider and a circle changeup.
Ryan Robert Feierabend is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners,Texas Rangers,and Toronto Blue Jays. Feierabend also played in the KBO League for the Nexen Heroes and KT Wiz,and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Uni-President Lions.
Ryan Benjamin Rowland-Smith is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. Rowland-Smith also represented Australia in the World Baseball Classic three times and in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Clayton Anthony Rapada is a Filipino American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs,Detroit Tigers,Texas Rangers,Baltimore Orioles,New York Yankees,and Cleveland Indians. He is currently an assistant pitching coordinator for the San Francisco Giants organization.
Ross Emery Detwiler is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the first round of the 2007 MLB draft and made his MLB debut late that season. He has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers,Atlanta Braves,Cleveland Indians,Oakland Athletics,Seattle Mariners,Chicago White Sox,Miami Marlins,San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds.
The 2008 Seattle Mariners season was the 32nd Major League Baseball season in the team's history. Coming off the heels of the previous 2007 season,in which the M's finished with their first winning record since 2003,the team was widely expected to once again compete for the American League West division championship. The team was bolstered by some major roster additions during the previous offseason,most notably starting pitchers Érik Bédard and Carlos Silva. However,by the end of May,it became apparent that the team had gone back to its losing ways of the 2004–06 seasons. Despite their losing ways,they won their first and last game of the season. Their longest winning-streak of the season is 4 games after a Cleveland sweep at the end of August and a 12-6 win against the Texas Rangers on the first day of September. However,standing at 57-87,their longest losing-streak of the season is 12 games,11 on the road,1 at home,after being swept by the L.A. Angels,Kansas City Royals,Oakland Athletics,and suffering a loss at the last homestand opener against the L.A. Angels. On September 23,the Mariners became the first club to spend $100 million in payroll and lose 100 games. The team finished the season with a 61–101 (.377) record,last in the West for the 4th time in 5 years,and second worst in the majors.
Jean Manuel Machi is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants,Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners. He was with the Giants for their 2014 World Series win.
Derek Lane Holland nicknamed "Dutch Oven",is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers,Chicago White Sox,San Francisco Giants,Chicago Cubs,Pittsburgh Pirates,and Detroit Tigers. He is nicknamed "Dutch Oven".
Douglas Wildes Fister is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners,Detroit Tigers,Washington Nationals,Houston Astros,Boston Red Sox,and Texas Rangers from 2009 through 2018.
James Steven Jones is an American professional baseball pitcher and outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the fourth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft and made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with them in 2014.
Nicholas James Vincent is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres,Seattle Mariners,San Francisco Giants,Philadelphia Phillies,Miami Marlins,Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves. Vincent was drafted by the Padres in the 18th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft,and made his major league debut in 2012.
Justin Scott Grimm is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers,Chicago Cubs,Kansas City Royals,Seattle Mariners,Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics.
Dominic Joseph Leone,nicknamed Dominator,is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners,Arizona Diamondbacks,Toronto Blue Jays,St. Louis Cardinals,Cleveland Indians,and San Francisco Giants. Leone played college baseball for the Clemson Tigers. The Seattle Mariners selected Leone in the 16th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.
Darío Rafael Álvarez Espinal is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Guelph Royals of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets,Atlanta Braves,and Texas Rangers.
Adrian David Sampson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers,and in the KBO League for the Lotte Giants.
Zachary Stuart Littell,nicknamed Lit,is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 11th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. He has played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins,San Francisco Giants,and Boston Red Sox.
Emilio Enrique Pagán is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Tampa Bay Rays,Seattle Mariners,Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres. He plays for the Puerto Rico national baseball team.