Geoffrey Michael Geary (born August 26, 1976) 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 ...

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

, who 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

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Biography

Geary graduated from

Grossmont High School Grossmont High School is a public high school in eastern San Diego County, California. Opened in 1920, it is the oldest public high school in East County and the first of twelve high schools currently in Grossmont Union High School District. ...

in 1994 in

El Cajon El Cajon ( , ; Spanish: El Cajón, lit. 'the box') is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajón, which was named for the box-like shape of the valley tha ...

, CA. He attended

San Diego Mesa College San Diego Mesa College (Mesa College or Mesa) is a public community college in San Diego, California. It is part of San Diego Community College District and the California Community Colleges system. The college is accredited by the Accrediting ...

and the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

. While at Oklahoma Geary went 4–3 with a 2.20 ERA at Oklahoma and led

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

in ERA in 1997.

Professional career

Philadelphia Phillies

Geoff Geary was drafted by

in the 15th round (434th overall) of the amateur entry draft. He was awarded Red Barons Pitcher of the Year in after a stellar year in AAA. That year, he primarily filled three roles: as a starter, set-up man and closer, where he reached career-highs in games (46) and saves (5) and fell one win shy of tying his career high (10). He was awarded Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June 2003. He also was awarded the Greg Legg Tenth Man Award, by the Scranton booster club, given to a player who comes off the bench to consistently contribute to the success of their team. That year, he made his major league debut on August 27, 2003, against the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

, allowing one run in his one inning of work. He appeared in only 5 games in 2003. In 58 innings in , he compiled a 3.72 ERA and showed improvement as the season went on by posting a 2.70 ERA after the all-star break. In , Geary went 7–1 with a 2.96 ERA in 91.1 innings and posted a career best ERA and a team best ERA for pitchers with over 25 innings pitched. He also had the lowest ERA in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

for relievers with over 80 innings pitched. After making close to the major league minimum from 2003 to 2006, he became eligible for salary arbitration for the first time in the 2006– offseason and was offered $750,000 by the Phillies while he asked for $925,000. Geary agreed to a one-year contract worth $837,500 with the Philadelphia Phillies, avoiding arbitration. Geoff was pitching with the team's AAA affiliate the

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal Exp ...

until July 29, 2007, when the team recalled him after an injury to Ryan Madson.

Houston Astros

On November 7, 2007, Geary was traded to the Houston Astros along with

Michael Bourn Michael Ray Bourn (born December 27, 1982) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Baltimore Orioles ...

and

Mike Costanzo Michael A. Costanzo (born September 9, 1983) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds. Amateur career Costanzo played college baseball for Coastal Carolina Univer ...

for

Brad Lidge Bradley Thomas Lidge (born December 23, 1976), nicknamed "Lights Out", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Lidge played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 2002–2012. He played for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia ...

and

Eric Bruntlett Eric Kevin Bruntlett (born March 29, 1978) is an American former professional baseball utility player. Between 2003 and 2009, he played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies. Born in Lafay ...

. Geary had a career year in 2008 for the Astros with a career-low 2.53 ERA in 64 innings pitched. However, in 2009, Geary went 1–3 with an 8.10 ERA in 16 appearances before going on the disabled list May 14 with tendinitis in his right biceps. On June 10, he was activated but placed on waivers and sent outright to Triple-A

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

. In October 2009 Geary was granted free agency.

Texas Rangers

On December 16, 2009, Geary signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers with an invitation to spring training. He played with the

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, where he appeared in 23 games and had a record of 4–5 with a 5.37 ERA when he was released on July 27, 2010.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On August 8, 2010, he signed a minor league deal with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, and was assigned to Triple-A

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

the following day. He appeared in eight games with a 5.06 ERA.

San Diego Padres

On February 16, 2011, he was signed to a minor league deal 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. He was released on March 26.

York Revolution

On June 23, 2011, Geary signed a contract with the

York Revolution The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Basebal ...

of the

Atlantic League The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are loc ...

. He became a free agent following the season. In 23 games 22.2 innings of relief he went 3-2 with a 3.57 ERA and 21 strikeouts.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geary, Geoff 1976 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Buffalo, New York Batavia Muckdogs players Clearwater Phillies players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma City RedHawks players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Ottawa Lynx players Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Phillies players Round Rock Express players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Baseball players from El Cajon, California Baseball players from San Diego York Revolution players Anchorage Bucs players Grossmont High School alumni