Ryan Lavarnway
Lavarnway in September 2011
Boston Red Sox – No. 60
Catcher
Born: (1987-08-07) August 7, 1987 (age 24) Burbank, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 18, 2011 for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics (through 2011 season)
Batting average	.231
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	8
Slugging percentage	.436
Teams
Boston Red Sox (2011–present)

Ryan Cole Lavarnway (born August 7, 1987) is an American professional baseball catcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.^[1]

He attended Yale University, where in 2007 he won the NCAA batting title by hitting .467, and led the NCAA with an .873 slugging percentage. That year, Lavarnway also set the Ivy League record with a 25-game hitting streak. In addition, he is the Ivy League all-time career home run leader, with 33.

Lavarnway was drafted by the Red Sox in 2008. In 2009, he set all-time team records in doubles (36) and home runs (21) for the Greenville Drive, while leading all Red Sox minor leaguers with a .540 slugging percentage. In 2010, he was named the Red Sox co-Minor League Offensive Player of the Year, after leading the Carolina League in home runs and leading all Red Sox minor leaguers in RBIs (102) and slugging percentage (.489), while coming in second among Red Sox minor leaguers in home runs (22). By the 2011 All Star break, he was leading all players in the Red Sox organization (including major leaguers) in home runs, with 30.

He was called up to the major leagues by the Red Sox on August 18, 2011.^[2][3]

Early life[link]

Lavarnway, who is Jewish on his mother's side,^[4] was born in Burbank, California and grew up in Woodland Hills, California.^[5][6][7] He attended El Camino Real High School, where he played outfield for the "Conquistadors" baseball team.^{[8][9][10][11]}

College career[link]

Lavarnway attended Yale University, where he was a philosophy major and played baseball for the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League.^[1][12][3] In 2006, he primarily played right field, and earned Ivy Player and Rookie of the Week honors on March 21.^[8]

In 2007 he moved from right field to catcher.^[3][13][2] Lavarnway led the NCAA in batting average (.467) and slugging percentage (.873), while setting Yale single-season records in those categories as well as in home runs (14), hits (70), doubles (17), RBIs (55), and total bases (131).^[8][14] He also had an Ivy-League-record 25-game hitting streak.^[8] He won the G.H. Walker, Jr. Award as Most Valuable Player.^[8] In addition, he was named Second-Team All-American by PingBaseball.com, Third-Team All-American by Baseball America, First-Team All-American by Jewish Sports Review, and Second-Team All-New England and Second-Team All-Northeast, while unanimously being elected First-Team All-Ivy.^[8][5]

Lavarnway played for the Manchester Silkworms in the New England Collegiate Baseball League in the summer of 2007, where he batted .313 and was honored as a starter on the league All Star team.^[15][16]

In his junior year in 2008, Lavarnway led the Ivy League in home runs (13), RBIs (42), walks (29), slugging percentage (.824), and on-base percentage (.541), while batting .398.^[8][14] He missed the last 11 games of the year after breaking his wrist diving into home plate.^[14][3] He became the Ivy League's all-time leader in career home runs, with 33.^[8]

Lavarnway won the Ivy League Player of the Week award three times in the first season's first four weeks (March 11, March 26, and April 1).^[8] He was a semi-finalist for the Johnny Bench Award and the Golden Spikes Award, was named Third-Team All-American by PingBaseball.com, and was named Second-Team All-Ivy and First Team All-New England.^[8][12] He finished his three-year-career with a .384 batting average, 33 home runs, and 122 RBIs in 120 games.^[17]

Minor league career[link]

Lavarnway was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.^[1] He signed for a $325,000 signing bonus, though he vows to study the extra year he needs to complete his degree.^[11][3] He had been projected to be drafted higher, before he broke his left wrist in April 2008.^[18][19]

In 2009, he played for the Greenville Drive for the year, in the Class A South Atlantic League. Lavarnway hit 21 home runs (a team all-time record) with a .540 slugging percentage (both tops for Red Sox minor leaguers) and 36 doubles (a team record), a league-leading 59 extra-base hits, and 87 RBIs (2nd in the league) in 404 at bats.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

Lavarnway split 2010 between the Salem Red Sox of the Class A+ Carolina League, and the Portland Sea Dogs of the Class AA Eastern League, combining for 22 home runs (2nd among Red Sox minor leaguers; his 14 homers in his Carolina League stint led the league), 102 RBIs (first in the Red Sox system, and 11th among all minor leaguers), and a .489 slugging percentage (tops among Red Sox minor leaguers) in 462 at bats.^[20][12] He was a Carolina League Player of the Week (April 19), Mid-Season All Star, and Post-Season All Star, as well as an Eastern League Player of the Week (August 30).^[25][12] For 2010, he was named the Red Sox co-Minor League Offensive Player of the Year, along with first baseman Anthony Rizzo.^[26][12] He also threw out 33% of attempted base-stealers, and was rated as the top Red Sox catching prospect by Baseball America.^[21][12][27]

He also played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League after the regular season ended, and was an "AFL Rising Star" in November.^[25][12][28]

Lavarnway started the 2011 season by splitting it between Portland and the Pawtucket Red Sox in the Class AAA International League, for whom he batted third in the lineup.^[20][3] With Portland, he hit 14 home runs with a .510 slugging percentage in 208 at bats, and with Pawtucket he hit 16 home runs with a .608 slugging percentage in 209 at bats. That was good for a combined total in mid-August of 30 home runs (tied for third-most in the minors), 85 RBIs, and a .559 slugging percentage in 478 at bats.^[20][26][29] By the All Star break, he was leading all players in the Red Sox organization, including major leaguers, in home runs.^[3]

He was also voted the International League Player of the Week on July 25, and received Topps Minor League Player of the Month honors for July.^[25][30] Baseball America named him the best power prospect in the International League.^[31] Defensively, his "pop times" on his throws from home-to-second-base were consistently 1.95–1.97 seconds, which corresponded to the major league average, and through mid-August he had made only one error behind the plate.^[32][7]

Pawtucket hitting coach Chili Davis said of Lavarnway: "The discipline he shows up there [at bat] is big-league discipline. The kid can hit."^[33] Manager Arnie Beyeler observed: "The way he's hit the ball, it looks like he's playing tee-ball out there."^[33] Former major leaguer Ken Ryan compared him to Mike Lieberthal, whose offensive ability was far ahead of his catching ability when he first made it to the major leagues, but who over time established himself as a defensive catcher as well.^[34] Baseball America named him the catcher on its 2011 Minor League All-Star Team, noting that he "stands well above the field".^[35]

Major league career[link]

Boston Red Sox (2011–present)[link]

On August 18, 2011, Lavarnway was called up to the Red Sox. He filled the roster spot of Kevin Youkilis, who went on the disabled list. Since Lavarnway was born, the only other Yale alumni to have played in the majors have been pitchers Ron Darling (1983–95) and Craig Breslow (2005–present).^[36]

On August 19, he collected his first career hit, a single off Kansas City Royals' pitcher Jeff Francis.^[37]

On September 27, with both Jason Varitek and Jarrod Saltalamacchia injured, Lavarnway started for the Red Sox and hit his first two major league home runs with 4 RBI in a key 8-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.^[38] Lavarnway became the first Red Sox player to homer in his first start at catcher since Danny Sheaffer in 1987, and the youngest to have a multi-home run game since Nomar Garciaparra did it at precisely the same age (24 years, 51 days) in 1997.^[39]

See also[link]

• List of select Jewish baseball players

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Yale University bio

Keith Law (also known to his readers as "Klaw") is a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com and ESPN Scouts, Inc. He was formerly a writer for Baseball Prospectus and worked in the front office for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Background[link]

Born on June 1st, 1973, Law grew up in Smithtown, New York on Long Island.^[1] He graduated with honors from Harvard University, where he majored in sociology and economics. He received his Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business.^[1][2]

Career[link]

He began writing for Baseball Prospectus in 1997.^[1] Unlike many other Baseball Prospectus authors, Law's primary influence was not Bill James, but Eddie Epstein, the writer of the first STATS, Inc. Minor League Scouting Notebook.^[3]

In 2002, Law was hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as a "Consultant to Baseball Operations" after impressing Blue Jays' general manager J. P. Ricciardi during the offseason winter meetings.^[4] Paul DePodesta had recommended Law to him and Ricciardi asked Law's opinions regarding the approaching Rule 5 draft of that year, and, impressed with Law's answers and explanations, offered him a position with the team.^[5] During his time with the Blue Jays, he acted as a major league and minor league scout, contract negotiator, and provided assistance to the team's marketing and sales staffs.^[2] Law reached the position of "Special Assistant to the GM" before resigning in 2006 to work at ESPN.^[6]

At ESPN, Law works as baseball scouting writer.^[6] He writes baseball columns, co-hosts the Baseball Today podcast, maintains a blog, provides analysis on radio and television, and holds weekly chats on ESPN.com.

On December 29, 2011, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that Law interviewed for a number of front office positions with the Houston Astros, including the title of Scouting Director. Despite all of this, Keith Law decided to remain with ESPN in order to spend more time with his family.

Baseball Writers Association of America[link]

In December 2007, Law was denied admission to the Baseball Writers Association of America, members of whom vote for Baseball Hall of Fame candidates and several annual awards including the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award.^[7] While 16 other internet baseball columnists were admitted in their first year of eligibility, ESPN's Law and Rob Neyer were refused due to the BBWAA's perception that Law and Neyer did not attend enough games in person.^[7] In 2008, however, Law was admitted to the BBWAA along with Neyer and Baseball Prospectus writers Christina Kahrl and Will Carroll.^[8] On his 2009 NL Cy Young ballot, Law listed Javier Vázquez in front of Adam Wainwright and did not include Chris Carpenter on the three name ballot,^[9] which elicited strong reactions from St. Louis Cardinals fans.^[10] Law stated, "Carpenter's innings total was the main reason he ended up off my ballot. He pitched extremely well when on the mound, but not well enough to close the value gap between him and the three pitchers I listed, each of whom threw at least 27 innings more than Carpenter".^[11]

Other interests[link]

Law's main interests outside of baseball are cuisine and literature.^[1] For these other interests, he maintains the personal website meadowparty.com, which includes a food and literature blog. On the Season Four disc of Home Movies, he recorded two commentary tracks. Law currently lives in Arizona with his family.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Law's ESPN columns
• Law's ESPN.com blog

Dellin Betances (born March 23, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees.

Early life[link]

At the age of 10, Betances was a Yankee fan who sat with the Bleacher Creatures for the perfect game of former Yankees pitcher David Wells in 1998. He credits his family taking him to Yankee games with his choosing baseball over basketball.^[1]

He attended Grand Street Campus School in Brooklyn, New York. In 2005, Betances was an Aflac All-American and played for the Team USA Junior National Team.^[2] Betances played baseball in the summer in the Youth Service League.^[3]

Professional career[link]

Betances was drafted in the eighth round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. He received a $1 million signing bonus to forego his commitment to Vanderbilt University.^[1]

Betances was rated the Yankees' third best prospect for 2007,^[4] and their fifth best for 2009, according to Baseball America.^[5]

Betances spent 2007 with the Class-A Short Season Staten Island Yankees and 2008 with the Class A Charleston RiverDogs. In 2009, he pitched for the Tampa Yankees, the Yankees Class A-Advanced affiliate. Betances had surgery late in the 2009 season, which was erroneously reported as Tommy John surgery,^[6] but was instead a ligament reinforcement procedure.^[7]

Following the 2010 season, Betances was added to the Yankees' 40 man roster.^[8] He began the 2011 season with the Double-A Trenton Thunder, and was promoted to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on August 13.^[9]

On September 8, 2011, Betances was promoted to the majors for the first time.^[10] Betances had a pitching session in the street in front of his Teaneck, New Jersey home with his brother before joining up with the Yankees in Anaheim.^[11] Betances and fellow prospect Andrew Brackman made their MLB debuts on September 22, 2011.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Dellin Betances on Twitter

Brian Bass
Bass pitching for the Baltimore Orioles on September 22, 2008.
Houston Astros – No. 30
Relief pitcher
Born: (1982-01-06) January 6, 1982 (age 30) Pinehurst, North Carolina
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 1, 2008 for the Minnesota Twins
Career statistics (through 2010 season)
Win-Loss	9-7
Earned run average	5.16
Strikeouts	104
Teams
Minnesota Twins (2008) Baltimore Orioles (2008-2009) Pittsburgh Pirates (2010) Hanwha Eagles (2012-)

Brian Michael Bass (born January 6, 1982, in Pinehurst, North Carolina) is a professional baseball relief pitcher, who is with the Houston Astros.

Career[link]

Kansas City Royals (2000–2006)[link]

Bass, a graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 6th round(164th overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft.

After signing with the Royals, Bass played for the Rookie League Gulf Coast Royals in 2000. He went 3–5 with a 3.89 ERA. Bass also made one start at the Single-A level for the Charleston Alley Cats.

In 2001, Bass played for the Single-A Burlington Bees. Making 26 starts, he had a 4.65 ERA and went 3–10; his 10 losses are still an all-time high for him. Bass played the entire 2002 season for the Bees again, improving his performance on the previous season, making 20 starts and finishing 5–7 with a 3.83 ERA.

Bass had the best season of his minor league career in 2003 while playing for the Single-A Wilmington Blue Rocks. Making 26 starts, he went 9–8 with a 2.84 ERA. He was third on the team in wins (9), second in the team in games started (26) and innings pitched (152 1/3), and led the team in strikeouts with 119. On August 6, against the Winston-Salem Warthogs, Bass came within one out of a no-hitter. Baseball America named Bass as the Royals 8th best prospect.

Bass went winless in 2004 while playing for the Rookie League Arizona Royals and the Double-A Wichita Wranglers. Losing a combined 5 games, he had a 5.94 ERA in 14 starts. In 2005, while playing for the Wranglers again, Bass had a 12–8 record and a 5.24 ERA.

In 2006, Bass split the season between the Arizona Royals, the Wichita Wranglers, and the Triple-A Omaha Royals. Making a combined 15 starts in 16 games, Bass went 6–7 with a 5.70 ERA. Bass became a minor league free agent after the season.

Minnesota Twins (2007–2008)[link]

Bass, after leaving the Royals organization, signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins for the 2007 season. Bass played the entire season for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. Bass made 10 starts and 27 relief appearances, finishing the season 7–3 with a 3.48 ERA. Included in his 10 starts was a complete game shutout, the second in his career and the first since 2001. Bass became a minor league free agent after the season; but, was re-signed by the Twins to a major league contract on November 29, 2007.

Bass won a long relief role out of spring training with the Minnesota Twins. He made his major league debut on April 1 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, pitching 1.3 innings in relief in a 9–1 loss. Bass appeared in 44 games as a reliever for the Twins, going 3–4 with an ERA of 4.87 with one save before being sent outright to the minors on August 20.

Baltimore Orioles (2008–2009)[link]

He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on September 5, 2008, for a PTBNL or cash considerations.

On December 12, 2009, Bass was non-tendered by the Baltimore Orioles making him a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates (2010)[link]

On January 12, 2010, Bass signed a minor-league contract with Pittsburgh which included an invitation to spring training. He appeared in four games and was designated for assignment on September 13.^[1]

Philadelphia Phillies (2011)[link]

The Philadelphia Phillies signed Bass to a minor league contract after he had become a free agent following the 2010 season.^[2] On January 6, 2011, the Phillies invited Bass to major league camp at spring training.^[3]

Hanwha Eagles (2012)[link]

Bass signed with the Hanwha Eagles for the 2012 season.^[4]

Houston Astros (2012-present)[link]

On May 27, 2012, Bass signed with the Houston Astros. He was assigned to the Oklahoma City RedHawks.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)