Joshua Dean Fields (born December 14, 1982) 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. 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

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, 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 ...

(NPB) for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

Collegiate career

Fields was a two-sport athlete at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, playing both

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. He was selected as a

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, 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 ...

All-Star at third base in , and had a career

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 ...

of .364 over three years. Fields also earned three letters as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the Cowboys. He led the team to two

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s, including setting the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

record with 307 passing yards against the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. He has the school record for single game passing touchdowns with 7 against SMU

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Fields was selected as the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the

. Entering , he was ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the White Sox organization and the 95th-best prospect in Major League Baseball 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 ...

''. He hit safely in 14 straight games from August 6 – August 21 for the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

, tied for the eighth-longest streak in the Southern League. Prior to the season, Fields was once again ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the White Sox organization by ''Baseball America''. He homered in four consecutive games from May 11 – May 14 with the

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

, and was selected to play in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth location to serve as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Opened during the 2001 Major League Baseb ...

. Fields made his major league debut on September 13, against the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

, but did not record his first major league

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 upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

until September 18. In that game 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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, Fields hit a

pinch-hit In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

home run off Detroit's Jamie Walker. He became the third player in White Sox history to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, joining

Carlos Lee Carlos Noriel Lee (born June 20, 1976), nicknamed "El Caballo", is a Panamanian former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999 to 2012 with the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, ...

(May 7, ) and

Miguel Olivo Miguel Eduardo Olivo Peña (born July 15, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher for several teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2014. He also played in the Mexican League from 2014 to 201 ...

(September 15, ) as the only other White Sox to do so. Fields entered the season ranked as the second-best prospect in the White Sox organization and the 45th-best prospect in Major League Baseball by ''Baseball America''. Although he started the season at Triple-A Charlotte, he was called up to the White Sox in June after a season ending back injury to third baseman Joe Crede. He recorded his first multi-home run game on August 10 against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

, hitting both off starter

Jarrod Washburn Jarrod Michael Washburn (born August 13, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, and Detroit Tigers over the course of a 12–year Major League Baseball (MLB) c ...

. On August 26, , Fields made his first start in

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering syst ...

, though he only played 21 games at that position before being moved back to third base. Fields ended his first season as a Major Leaguer by hitting a promising .244, 23 home runs, 67 RBI, and an

OPS OPS may refer to: Organizations * Obscene Publications Squad, a former unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England * Oceanic Preservation Society * Office of Public Safety, a former US government agency * Orchestre philharmonique de Strasb ...

of .788 in 100 games. His 23 home runs tied him with Bill Melton for the third-most home runs by a

White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The club plays its home games at Rate Fie ...

player in their rookie season, though Melton accomplished that feat in 157 games. Fields received one third-place vote for AL Rookie of the Year, finishing in a tie for seventh place in the overall voting. Entering

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 ...

for the season, Fields was expected to be the starting third baseman, with Crede likely to be traded. However, Crede arrived at camp fully recovered from his injury and White Sox general manager Kenny Williams was said to be unsatisfied with the trade offers. This resulted in Crede being given the starting job and Fields once again beginning the season in Triple-A Charlotte. Fields had a disappointing, injury-riddled season with the Knights, in which he regressed to a .246 batting average, 10 home runs, 35 RBI and .772 OPS in 75 games. On July 25, 2008, he was called up to play with the White Sox after Crede was put on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

. Fields underwent

arthroscopic Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the j ...

knee surgery at the end of the 2008 season,Fields to undergo off-season surgery
/ref> and was the White Sox's starting third baseman in until

Gordon Beckham James Gordon Beckham III (born September 16, 1986) is an American former professional baseball infielder who serves as a fill-in sportscaster for the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Wh ...

was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on June 4 and took the position. On July 23, 2009, in a game against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

, Fields hit a grand slam in his first plate appearance of the game. This would later end up being the game-winning home run in

Mark Buehrle Mark Alan Buehrle (; born March 23, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Chicago White Sox, playing twelve seasons for the team and winning the World ...

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

over the Tampa Bay Rays, winning 5–0. Fields also caught the final out of the perfect game, a groundout to White Sox shortstop

Alexei Ramírez Alexei Fernando Ramírez Rodriguez (born September 22, 1981) is a Cuban former professional baseball shortstop. He has played for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays in MLB and Pinar del Río (baseball), Pinar del Rio ...

. Six days later, he would be demoted to Triple-A Charlotte to make room for newly acquired

Mark Kotsay Mark Steven Kotsay (born December 2, 1975) is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder. He is the manager for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Kotsay appeared in 1,914 MLB games for the San Diego ...

Kansas City Royals

On November 6, 2009, Fields, along with Chris Getz, was traded by the White Sox to the

in exchange for

Mark Teahen Mark Thomas Teahen (born September 6, 1981) is an American-Canadian former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. He graduated from Yuca ...

. He played in 13 games for the Royals, hitting .306 with three home runs and 6 RBI.

Pittsburgh Pirates/Colorado Rockies

On December 20, 2010, Fields was signed to a minor league contract by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. However, on March 28, he was traded by the Pirates to 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

at the conclusion of

for a player to be named later or cash considerations. He recorded a .365 batting average with 11 home runs and 45 RBI in 50 games with 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 (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado R ...

before being released on June 28, in order to pursue a career in Japan.

Yomiuri Giants

Fields signed with the

in Japan on June 28, 2011. In 40 games with the Giants, he hit only .202 with two home runs and 9 RBI.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Fields signed a minor league contract 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 ...

on January 4, 2012. After failing to win a spot on the Dodgers Opening Day roster, he was assigned to the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

. He played in 133 games for the Isotopes, posting a .322 average with 13 home runs and 71 RBI.

Philadelphia Phillies

On November 16, 2012, Fields signed with 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 ...

. He played in 109 games with the Triple-A

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they are named in reference to pig iron, used ...

in 2013, batting .289 with four home runs and 45 RBI. He elected free agency on November 4.

Piratas de Campeche

On April 15, 2014, Fields signed with the

Piratas de Campeche The Piratas de Campeche (English: Campeche Pirates) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico. History In 1980, the Alacranes de Durango moved to Campeche, and played their home games at Ven ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He was released on May 23. In 30 games he hit .297/.336/.475 with 5 home runs, 29 RBIs and 1 stolen base. On February 24, 2015, Fields re-signed with Campeche. He was released on May 6. In 25 games he hit .245/.346/.351 with 1 home run and 9 RBIs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Josh 1982 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American football quarterbacks Arizona League Royals players Baseball players from Oklahoma Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Kansas City Royals players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball third basemen Mexican League baseball first basemen Mexican League baseball third basemen Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball players Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Sportspeople from Ada, Oklahoma Peoria Saguaros players Piratas de Campeche players Senadores de San Juan players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Winston-Salem Warthogs players Yomiuri Giants players