James Douglas Jennings (born September 30, 1964), or referred to in Japan as "D.J", is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as a utility player from 1988–1991 and 1993, and in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

for the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

as an outfielder from to .

Baseball career (1984–2005)

Early career

Jennings was drafted by the Angels in the 2nd round of the

1984 MLB Draft The 1984 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1984. The draft saw the New York Mets select Shawn Abner first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Other n ...

. He started his professional career in Salem. In 1985, he was brought up to

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

. In 1986, he was brought up to

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. In 1987, he was brought up to Midland. After the season, he was selected by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in the Rule V Draft on December 7, 1987.

Oakland Athletics (1987–1991)

Jennings made his Major League debut with the Oakland A's In 1988. His Major League career got off to a quick start in April 1988 for Oakland. The Athletics had taken him from the Angels system the previous off-season. Now, in his first major-league start, Jennings went 4-for-4, hitting a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and scoring four times.

Chicago Cubs (1993)

Jennings arrived in Chicago from

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

around 5:00 p.m. on June 1, 1993. Four hours later, his pinch-hit double broke a seventh-inning tie and sparked the Cubs to an 8–3 victory over 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 ...

in front of a crowd of more than 30,000 people at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

Orix BlueWave (1995–1997)

Jennings played in Japan for 3 years with the

, teammates with

Ichiro , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played the first nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the next 12 years w ...

all three seasons, D.J batted in the lineup in either the 3 or 4 hole and helped lead Orix to consecutive

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

, losing in 1995 and winning in 1996. In game 4 of the 1995 series DJ hit an extra-inning home run which proved to be the game-winner, for the only game they won in the series which they lost 4 games to 1. One of the highlights of his time in Japan was tying a Japanese home run record by hitting home runs in four consecutive at-bats.

Atlantic League (1999–2005)

In 1999, Jennings played for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

. On July 16, 1999, he hit the game-winning home run in the 10th inning in the first game at

Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, originally simply Riverfront Stadium, was a 6,200-seat baseball park in Newark, New Jersey built in 1999. It was the home field of the Newark Bears, who played in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a ...

. From 2000 to 2005 Jennings played for the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "par ...

also of the independent Atlantic League.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Doug 1964 births Living people Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Atlanta Cafeteros de Córdoba players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Chicago Cubs players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Mexican League baseball outfielders Midland Angels players Newark Bears players Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Oakland Athletics players Olmecas de Tabasco players Omaha Golden Spikes players Orix BlueWave players Palm Springs Angels players Quad Cities Angels players Rochester Red Wings players Salem Angels players Tacoma Tigers players Leon High School alumni