Jason Ryan Jennings (born July 17, 1978) 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 tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He pitched 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 (AL), ...

with 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 ...

(2001-2006),

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 ...

(2007) and Texas Rangers (2008-2009).

High school/college years

Jennings attended Poteet High School in Mesquite, Texas, and was a standout in both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

. In football, he won All-District honors at both kicker and punter. In baseball, as a senior, he was named the District MVP and posted a .410 batting average, hit seven

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, and pitched his way to a 10–3 record and a 0.92

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

with 132

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. After graduating from Poteet, he attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

, where he played baseball from to . Following his junior season at Baylor, Jennings was named by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball as the 1999 National Player of the Year. In what would be his final season at Baylor, he struck out 172 hitters in 146.2 innings and hit .382 with 17 homers and 68 RBIs. He also won the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, his second consecutive Big 12 Player of the Year, consensus

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors, the Outstanding Player on the 1999 Big 12 All Tournament Team, and a spot on the 1999 All-Big 12 Academic First Team.

Professional career

As a member of the

, Jason posted his most impressive numbers in the season when he won the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, beating out

Brad Wilkerson Stephen Bradley Wilkerson (born June 1, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball for eight seasons. Wilkerson played college baseball for the University of Florida, and was selected ...

and Austin Kearns. In his major league debut, Jennings hit a home run and tossed a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, becoming the first major leaguer to accomplish that feat. On May 8, 2004, Jennings became the only pitcher in history to hit a home run off of Hall of Fame pitcher

Greg Maddux Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams. Maddux is best known for his accomplishments while playing for the Atlanta Braves ...

. From to , Jennings had three losing seasons and posted an ERA above 5 each year. In , Jennings pitched much better, ending the season with a 3.78 ERA, but had only a 9–13 record due to a lack of run support that ranked near the bottom of the league. From May 29 to the end of the season, Jennings had a 3.17 ERA, which was 4th in the Majors and 2nd in the NL behind Roy Oswalt. He also finished with over 200 innings pitched. He ended his career with the Rockies as the franchise's all-time winningest pitcher. He was surpassed in wins by a Rockies pitcher on June 23, 2009 by former teammate

Aaron Cook Aaron Cook may refer to: *Aaron Cook (baseball) (born 1979), Major League Baseball pitcher * Aaron Cook (footballer) (born 1979), Welsh footballer * Aaron Cook (politician), Nauruan politician *Aaron Cook (taekwondo) Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 ...

. On December 12, 2006 the Rockies traded Jennings, along with

Miguel Asencio Miguel DePaula Asencio (born September 29, 1980) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He began his pro-career in in the Dominican Republic. In 11 games, he went 0–2 with a 6.55 Earned run average, ERA. Asencio was signed by the Philadel ...

, to the

for Willy Taveras,

Taylor Buchholz Taylor Buchholz (born October 13, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Biography Buchholz stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, and weighs 220 lbs. He bats and throws right-handed. He grew up and lives in Springfield, P ...

and

Jason Hirsh Jason Michael Hirsh (born February 20, 1982) is an American former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. In his career, he pitched for the Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies. He stands at 6' 8" and weighs . He batted and threw right ...

. The deal seemed to work in favor of the 2007 Rockies, who made it to the

2007 World Series The 2007 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2007 season. The 103rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Colorado Rockies and the American Le ...

with Taveras at the top of the order. Both Buchholz and Hirsh pitched decently in their first season with the Rockies. was a lackluster year with the Astros for Jennings. In a game against the Padres, he gave up 11 earned runs on 8

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 ...

in two-thirds of an inning with three walks and no strikeouts. In doing so, he set the record for the most earned runs allowed by a starting pitcher in a game while pitching less than one inning. On January 17, , he signed a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers. Jennings ended up going on the DL after just six starts, all in April (missing the rest of the season), in which he struggled mightily. He went 0–5 with an 8.56 ERA, allowing eight home runs in 27 innings of work, and he made it past the fifth inning only once. On February 6, , he re-signed with the Rangers to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. On August 27, 2009, Jennings was designated for assignment, then given his outright release by the Rangers. During the 2009–2010 MLB offseason, Jennings was signed by 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 ...

to a minor-league contract with an invite to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. On May 25, 2011, the Grand Prairie AirHogs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball signed Jennings to a contract for the remainder of their season. On September 12, 2011, Jennings started Game 5 of the AA Championship and pitched 6 innings to pick up the win and help lead the AirHogs to their first American Association Championship - his first championship at any level. Jennings officially retired in 2012.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Jason 1978 births Living people Baseball players from Dallas Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Baylor Bears baseball players Golden Spikes Award winners Colorado Rockies players Houston Astros players Texas Rangers players Asheville Tourists players Portland Rockies players Carolina Mudcats players Salem Avalanche players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Round Rock Express players Corpus Christi Hooks players Sacramento River Cats players Grand Prairie AirHogs players All-American college baseball players

High school/college years

Professional career

See also

References

External links