Joshua Lee Phelps (born May 12, 1978) 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. 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

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

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 ...

Tampa Bay Devil 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) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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

. Phelps was also a member of the independent

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseb ...

, as well as the

Telemarket Rimini The Rimini Baseball Club, nicknamed the Pirates (), was a team that played in Serie A1 (baseball), Serie A1 Italian Baseball League. The team was based in the city of Rimini and played its home games at the Stadio dei Pirati since 1973. Rimini ha ...

of the

Italian Baseball League The Italian Baseball League (IBL, ), officially known as the Serie A (), is the top-level baseball league in Italy. Founded in 1948, it is governed by the Italian Baseball & Softball Federation (FIBS), which has its headquarters in Rome. Many o ...

Career

High school years

Phelps attended Lakeland High School in

Rathdrum, Idaho Rathdrum is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. The population was 9,211 at the 2020 census, up from 6,826 in 2010. It is part of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entire county. It is named after ...

, where he was the

team's Most Valuable Player as a senior, and graduated 4th in his class in 1996 with a 3.94 GPA. Phelps was drafted by the

as a catcher in the 10th round of the draft. Phelps had originally planned to take a degree in engineering.

Minor league career

In , he led the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in slugging percentage (.562), and was 2nd in batting (.328). He was rated as the 5th best prospect in the organization 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 ...

. In , with

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of the Southern League (Double-A), he hit .292, led the league with 36 doubles and 31 home runs, and was third in RBI (97). He was the Southern League MVP, was named to their All-Star team as the catcher and designated hitter, was selected to Baseball America's Minor League Second Team All-Star as catcher, was named as the R. Howard Webster Award winner (team MVP), and was twice selected as the SL Player of the Week. He then hit .433 in 23 games in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

for Scottsdale. He was rated the top prospect in the Blue Jays organization by Baseball America. In , he started the season with

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(Triple-A) of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, and was recalled on July 2 by Toronto. At the time of his recall, he was leading all of minor league baseball in home runs (24), and was leading the IL in RBI (64) and slugging percentage (.658). He was named to the Triple-A All Star team, and was selected to play for Team USA at the Futures game in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. He spent with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

, 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 ...

Triple-A franchise. He hit .308 (2nd in the league), and ranked second among International League hitters with a .532 slugging percentage, and 3rd in the league with 24 HR and 90 RBI. Through 2006 in his minor league career, he had hit .288/.360/.524.

Major league career

In , he appeared in one game for Toronto at the age of 22. The following year, he caught in 7 games, and went hitless in 12

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, ...

s. In , he hit .309 with a .562 slugging percentage, and was 5th in the AL in HBP (17). In , he hit a career-high 20 home runs. In August , he was traded by the Blue Jays to the

for

Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatre director, theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Ro ...

. In December 2004, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

. In January , he was signed by the Detroit Tigers to a minor league contract. In November 2006, he signed with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

to a one-year minor league contract, but he was acquired by the

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

in the

Rule 5 Draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

on December 7, 2006. On March 30, , he was placed on the New York Yankee 40-man roster, beating out Andy Phillips. Initially picked to platoon at first base with Doug Mientkiewicz, manager

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre Jr. (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball Senior management, executive and former player, Manager (baseball), manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commiss ...

hinted that Phelps might man the position by himself if his impressive

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 ...

numbers continued into the regular season. On June 19, 2007, Phelps was designated for assignment. He was claimed by the

on June 22 and replaced

Brad Eldred Bradley Ross Eldred (born July 12, 1980) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Detroit Tigers and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hi ...

on their 25-man roster. On November 29, 2007, he elected to file for free agency and was signed to a minor league contract by the St. Louis Cardinals on January 10, . Phelps was promoted to the Major League roster on August 27, . He appeared in 19 games in 2008, and he made his last Major League appearance on September 28, 2008, in the last game of the Cardinals' season. On October 15, , he was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

to make room for left-handed relief specialist, Charlie Manning. On November 3, 2008, the San Francisco Giants signed Josh Phelps to a minor league contract with a spring training invitation. Phelps is the all-time leader in home runs for a player born in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Independent League career

2010 was his first season with the

in the Atlantic League. He was the starting first baseman and wore number 29 as of June 30, 2010. In 100 games he hit .310/.375/.449 with 10 home runs, 67 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

Italian Baseball League career

On February 21, 2011, the

signed Josh Phelps to one-year contract. In 40 games he hit .340/.444/.486 with 4 home runs, 29 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.

Awards

*1999 –

All-Star DH *2001 –

2nd team Minor League All-Star C *2001 – Southern League All-Star C *2001 – Southern League Most Valuable Player *2001 – Double A All-Star C *2001 – Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Player of the Year *2002 – Baseball America 2nd team Minor League All-Star C *2002 – Triple A All-Star DH *2002 – Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Player of the Year *2002 – AL Rookie of the Year (Voting Rank: # 6)

References

External links

ESPN interviewRimini baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Josh 1978 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Giants players Bridgeport Bluefish players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players Connecticut Defenders players Dunedin Blue Jays players Durham Bulls players American expatriate baseball players in Italy Hagerstown Suns players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Memphis Redbirds players New York Yankees players People from Rathdrum, Idaho Pittsburgh Pirates players Rimini Baseball Club players Baseball players from Anchorage, Alaska St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Tennessee Smokies players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players 2005 Baseball World Cup players