Ryan Matthew Doumit (born April 3, 1981) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played the first seven years of his career for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...

, then two for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, and one for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bo ...

High school career

He attended Moses Lake High School, where he had an excellent high school career, setting state records in several categories.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Doumit was drafted by the

in the 2nd round as the 59th overall selection in the

1999 Major League Baseball Draft The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

. After six seasons in the minor leagues, Doumit made his major league debut on June 5, , against the

. During his rookie season, Doumit played primarily as a backup catcher but also served as the Pirates'

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by ...

in interleague games. Over the next two seasons, Doumit suffered a variety of injuries, limiting him to 144 games. When healthy, he saw action as a catcher,

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, and

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In th ...

In , Doumit played exclusively as the Pirates' starting catcher. He was once again plagued by injury and missed three weeks with a broken thumb. He returned to the lineup and consistently kept his

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

above .330 throughout the rest of the summer. Doumit shared the National League's Player of the Week award for the week ending June 16, 2008, hitting .400 and 4

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s during the week. On September 26, Doumit attempted to throw out

Willie Harris William Charles Harris (born June 22, 1978) is an American professional baseball coach who is currently the third base coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is also a former Major League Baseball outfielder and second ba ...

trying to steal 2nd base, but instead plunked Pirates pitcher

John Grabow John William Grabow, nicknamed "Grabes" (born November 4, 1978) is an American former professional baseball left-handed reliever. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs of the Major League Baseball (MLB). In his MLB career, he he ...

; ''see'

On December 22, Doumit agreed to a three-year contract with the Pirates to avoid arbitration. Doumit began the year strongly, starting 11 of the first 12 games and hitting .244 with 2 home runs; however, he sustained a wrist injury in a game against the Atlanta Braves, later diagnosed as a fracture in the

scaphoid bone The scaphoid bone is one of the carpal bones of the wrist. It is situated between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist (also called the lateral or radial side). It forms the radial border of the carpal tunnel. The scaphoid bone i ...

. Doumit had surgery to repair the bone, and missed roughly 8–10 weeks. He finished 2009 with 16 doubles, no triples, 10 home runs, 38 runs batted in, 4 stolen bases, to go along with a .250 average, .299 on-base percentage, a .414 slugging percentage, in 280 at bats. Doumit played in 124 games during the 2010 season with the Pirates. He batted .251 with 13 home runs and 51 runs batted in. His season ended due to injury. For the 2011 season, Doumit was limited to just 77 games, in which he batted .303 with 10 home runs and 38 runs batted in. He became a free agent after the 2011 season, ending his tenure with the Pirates.

Minnesota Twins

On November 18, 2011, Doumit agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with the

. On June 29, 2012, the Twins signed Doumit to a two-year extension through the 2014 season. The extension is worth $7 million, with $3.5 million per year in 2013 and 2014.

Atlanta Braves

On December 18, 2013, Doumit was traded to the

for minor league pitcher Sean Gilmartin.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doumit, Ryan 1981 births Altoona Curve players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Washington (state) Bradenton Marauders players Gulf Coast Pirates players Hickory Crawdads players Indianapolis Indians players Living people Major League Baseball catchers Minnesota Twins players People from Moses Lake, Washington Pittsburgh Pirates players Williamsport Crosscutters players