William Henry Traber, Jr. (born September 18, 1979) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, and

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Playing career

College

Traber attended

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

, where he was First-Team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and West Coast Conference Player of the Year. He set a single-season school

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

record with 156 strikeouts (in 123 innings pitched). In , Traber entered the

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

and was picked in the first round (16th overall) by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. The Mets were prepared to offer Traber a contract worth $1.3 million, but after an MRI showed some damage to his pitching elbow, he signed a contract worth only $400,000.

Professional career

In 2001, the Mets traded Traber to the

along with Matt Lawton, Alex Escobar, Earl Snyder, and Jerrod Riggan for

Roberto Alomar Roberto Alomar Velázquez (; ; born February 5, 1968) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seventeen seasons. He is regarded as one of the greatest second basemen and all-around pla ...

, Mike Bacsik, and Danny Peoples. In , Traber was runner-up

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 Nort ...

pitcher of the year, going 17-5 for the Akron Aeros ( Double-A) and Buffalo Bisons ( Triple-A), and was voted by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' as having the best control and curveball in the league. His numbers were also good enough to give him top-honors for Cleveland pitching prospects. On April 4, , Traber made his Major League debut. Although he started out well (1.59

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

, 1-0 record in seven games that spring)—even pitching a one-hit

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

of the New York Yankees on July 8—Traber's season fell apart when elbow problems that haunted him in college and the minors came back to end his '03 campaign and ultimately the entire season when he needed

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. During the 2004- offseason, the

signed Traber. Before playing a single game, he was placed on waivers by the Red Sox. On November 10, 2004, he was claimed by the Indians off waivers and was signed to a minor league deal on December 22, 2004. On December 5, , he was released by the

after having pitched for them the previous two seasons. On January 5, , he signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees and was invited to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. On March 15, he was added to the 40-man roster and he opened the season in the Yankee

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

. He spent much of the season splitting time between the Yankees and their Triple-A affiliate. He was designated for assignment on September 1. In December , he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training to return to the Red Sox. On August 5, , he was called up by the Red Sox to bolster their undermanned bullpen. In October 2009, Traber was granted free agency. He was designated for assignment on August 7, 2009. In June 2010, Traber was signed by the Seattle Mariners.

Teaching career

He is currently the Head Varsity baseball Coach and a physics teacher at his former high school, El Segundo High School.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traber, Billy 1979 births Living people Cleveland Indians players Washington Nationals players 21st-century American sportsmen New York Yankees players Boston Red Sox players Baseball players from Torrance, California Major League Baseball pitchers Binghamton Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Norfolk Tides players Akron Aeros players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Kinston Indians players New Orleans Zephyrs players Columbus Clippers players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Pawtucket Red Sox players Tacoma Rainiers players El Segundo High School alumni Loyola Marymount Lions baseball players