Jay Payton
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Jason Lee "Jay" Payton (born November 22, 1972) is an American former
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)
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 ...
who played for 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 league ...
(-),
Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
(2002-, 2010),
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
(),
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
(),
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 te ...
(2005-) and
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
(-). He batted and threw right-handed. Payton was an opposite-field hitter with some power. He had great speed as a runner, but did not steal many bases. Defensively, he was a solid outfielder with an above-average arm, and his quickness getting rid of the ball helped him hold baserunners on the base paths. He is currently serving as an in game analyst with ESPNU for college baseball.


Pre-professional career

Payton attended
Zanesville High School Zanesville High School is a public high school in Zanesville, Ohio. Zanesville High School is the only public high school in the Zanesville City School District. History The first Zanesville High School was built in downtown North 6th Street 18 ...
in
Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
, and starred in soccer, basketball, and baseball. He was also an excellent student and graduated fourth in his class. While in Zanesville, Payton played for the Junior Pioneers. After his senior year, he helped lead the Midland Redskins of Cincinnati to the Connie Mack World Series Title, where he was named MVP of the tournament. That exposure helped lead to a full ride scholarship to
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, where he would
team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...
up with future Major League All Stars
Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American retired Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, third ...
and
Jason Varitek Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded a ...
to help lead Georgia Tech to their first ever
College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
appearance in school history. The Yellow Jackets came up short losing to
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
in the 1994 championship game. In 1992 and 1993, 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 ...
for the
Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...
of 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 ...
, where he teamed up with Garciaparra in 1993 to lead Orleans to the league championship.


Baseball career


New York Mets (1994–2002)

Selected by the Mets in the first round (29th overall) of the
1994 MLB draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation picks Compensation Picks Other notable players *Troy Glaus, 2nd round, 37th overall by the San Diego Padres, but did not ...
, Payton hadn't fulfilled the great expectations he projected at
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
when he was drafted in the first round with fellow All Americans and Teammates
Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American retired Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, third ...
and
Jason Varitek Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded a ...
, due in large part to four surgeries while in the minor leagues. Payton had three elbow surgeries, two of which were
Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Ch ...
, and surgery on his left shoulder. He spent the better part of his first five years on and off the DL while rehabbing from surgeries. He made his debut in 1998 after finally battling through all the elbow troubles. He helped lead the Mets to a World Series berth as the starting CF in 2000, his official rookie year, in which he finished third in the rookie of the year voting. In Game 2 of the World Series, Payton hit a dramatic three-run home run against
Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most ...
in the ninth inning, the second and last postseason home run Rivera gave up in his career.


Colorado Rockies (2002–2003)

With limited duty in 2001 due to a torn hamstring early in the season, the Mets explored trading Payton. On July 31, 2002, Payton was traded to the Colorado Rockies along with pitcher
Mark Corey Mark Franklin Corey (born November 16, 1974) is a retired American baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Early life Corey attended Austin High School in Austin, Pen ...
and minor league outfielder Robert Stratton in exchange for pitchers John Thomson and Steve Reed. In 2003, Payton enjoyed his most productive season with career highs in
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 (28), RBI (89), runs (93),
hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
(181), doubles (32),
on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
(.354),
slugging average In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, a ...
(.512),
at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s (600) and
games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...
(157), and added a respectable .302
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 ...
.


San Diego Padres (2004)

On January 13, 2004, Payton signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
, becoming the team's starting center fielder. He had a subpar 2004 season, batting .260 with eight homers and 55 RBI in 143 games.


Boston Red Sox (2005)

On December 20, 2004, Payton was traded to the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
along with infielder
Ramón Vázquez Ramón Luis Vázquez (born August 21, 1976) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and a former infielder. He is currently the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Vázquez played in MLB for the Seattle Marin ...
, minor league pitcher
David Pauley David Wayne Pauley (born June 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Pauley pitched for five Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from 2006 to 2012. He batted and threw right-handed. Career Early life Pauley is a graduate of ...
and cash considerations in exchange for Dave Roberts. Payton took over Roberts' role as the team's fourth outfielder. Payton was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on July 7, , after being publicly disgruntled over his lack of playing time. At the time, he was batting .263 with five home runs and 21 RBI in 55 games.


Oakland Athletics (2005–2006)

On July 13, 2005, Payton was traded to the
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 te ...
for pitcher
Chad Bradford Chadwick Lee Bradford (born September 14, 1974) is an American former professional relief pitcher. He was well known for his extreme submarine-style pitching, and his success in Major League Baseball (MLB) despite his unconventional delivery and ...
. On July 15, Payton hit a home run in his first at bat with the A's, and earned a cult status for a brief period after winning many games for the A's with an otherwise struggling offense. In 2006, Payton played regularly in the outfield for the Athletics while batting .296 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI in 142 games. On July 3, , he hit his 100th career home run against the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
.


Baltimore Orioles (2007–2008)

On December 11, 2006, Payton agreed to terms on a two-year, $9.75 million contract with the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
. After becoming a free agent during the 2008–09 offseason, Payton suffered a shoulder injury while lifting weights in March 2009. He did not play during the 2009 season.


Second stint with Colorado Rockies (2010)

On January 20, 2010, Payton signed a minor league contract with his former team, the
Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
. Payton was called up to the Rockies active roster in September after spending most of the season with the Rockies
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
affiliate, the Triple-A
Colorado Springs Sky Sox The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado Rockie ...
. He hit .343 with an RBI in 20 games. He retired in February 2011.


Career statistics

In 1,259 games over 12 seasons, Payton posted a .279
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 ...
(1,157-for-4,154) with 561 runs, 193 doubles, 30
triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...
, 119
home runs 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 ...
, 522 RBI, 47
stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
, 255
bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...
, .323
on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
and .425
slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. He finished his career with a .987
fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
playing at all three outfield positions. In 21 postseason games, he hit .253 (21-for-83) with nine runs, three home runs and 10 RBI.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payton, Jay 1972 births Living people Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball left fielders Boston Red Sox players Colorado Rockies players New York Mets players San Diego Padres players Oakland Athletics players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Ohio African-American baseball players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Sportspeople from Zanesville, Ohio Pittsfield Mets players Binghamton Mets players Norfolk Tides players St. Lucie Mets players Gulf Coast Mets players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players All-American college baseball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople