David Christopher DeJesus (; born December 20, 1979) 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 t ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played in

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 (A ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

and

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ...

. DeJesus, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is currently an analyst for the Cubs with

NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...

Career

DeJesus was raised in Manalapan Township,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, and played high school baseball at Manalapan High School. He was drafted out of high school by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

in the 43rd round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft. DeJesus did not sign with the Mets, opting instead to attend

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. In 1998 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

(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. DeJesus was drafted in the fourth round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the

Kansas City Royals

DeJesus made his Major League debut on September 2, 2003. After Carlos Beltrán was traded to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

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. 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!" 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 The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

shortstop

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

that eventually ended up being an inside-the-park home run for Jeter and had season-ending surgery. DeJesus was hoping to return to the team in September, but instead was moved to the 60-Day DL. He finished the 2010 season batting .318 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs in 352 at-bats. On October 2, 2010, the Royals picked up his $6 million club option for 2011.

Oakland Athletics

On November 11, 2010, DeJesus was traded to the

for pitcher Vin Mazzaro and minor league pitcher

Justin Marks Justin Marks (born March 25, 1981) is an American racing driver, entrepreneur, and current owner of Trackhouse Racing Team in the NASCAR Cup Series. He last competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 93 for Meyer Shank R ...

. He finished his lone season with Oakland batting .240 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs in 131 games.

Chicago Cubs

On November 30, 2011, DeJesus signed a two-year deal worth $10 million, to be the primary right fielder for the

. In 2013, due to the signing of

Nate Schierholtz Nathan John "Nate" Schierholtz (born February 15, 1984) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2007–2012), Philadelphia Phillies (2012), Chicago Cubs (2 ...

, DeJesus moved to center field for the 2013 season.

Washington Nationals

On August 19, 2013, DeJesus was traded to the

for a player to be named later. He appeared in three games for the Nationals, going 0-for-3.

Tampa Bay Rays

On August 23, the Nationals traded DeJesus to the

for future considerations. 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. On November 6, 2013, DeJesus re-signed 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. 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

On July 28, 2015, DeJesus was traded to the

for minor league pitcher Eduar Lopez.

Retirement

On March 22, 2017 DeJesus announced his retirement

Personal life

DeJesus was married to former high school art teacher and ''

The Amazing Race 23 ''The Amazing Race 23'' is the twenty-third season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on September 29, 2013, and the tw ...

'' contestant Kim DeJesus ( Iliff). Together, they have a son named David Kingston DeJesus Jr. He goes by the name Kingston.

References

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/392080/david-dejesus

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dejesus, David 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Baseball players from New York (state) Manalapan High School alumni Major League Baseball center fielders People from Manalapan Township, New Jersey Kansas City Royals players Oakland Athletics players Chicago Cubs players Washington Nationals players Tampa Bay Rays players Los Angeles Angels players Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball players Bourne Braves players Chatham Anglers players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Wichita Wranglers players Omaha Royals players Peoria Javelinas players Arizona League Cubs players Gulf Coast Rays players Charlotte Stone Crabs players