Lyle Overbay
Toronto Blue Jays — No. 35
First baseman
Born: January 28, 1977 (1977-01-28) (age 32) Centralia, Washington
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 19, 2001 for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Career statistics (through September 2, 2009)
Batting average	.280
Home runs	100
Runs batted in	448
Hits	918
Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks (2001–2003) Milwaukee Brewers (2004–2005) Toronto Blue Jays (2006–present)

Overbay was on rehab and playing for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliates of the Blue Jays.

Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977 in Centralia, Washington) is a Major League Baseball first baseman who currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. He previously played baseball for the University of Nevada, Reno.

[edit] Minor league career

Overbay was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 MLB draft. While playing in the farm system, he was named Diamondbacks minor league player of the year. He was briefly called up in 2001, but played mostly in AA and AAA until 2003.^[1][2]

[edit] 2003: Arizona Diamondbacks

Overbay first played with the Diamondbacks as the full-time first baseman in 2003. He struggled, batting .276 with 28 RBI and 4 home runs. He was sent down to AAA Tucson in June, but was called up in September to be part of the 40-man roster expansion. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers during the off-season.^[3]

[edit] 2004–2005: Milwaukee Brewers

Overbay was acquired by the Brewers in the trade on December 1, 2003 that sent Richie Sexson and Shane Nance to Arizona for Overbay, Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey, Chris Capuano, Chad Moeller, and Jorge de la Rosa.

Overbay was one of the more popular Brewers during his short stint with the team. Fans would give a prolonged "Oooooooooooooo!" cheer during his at-bats. Toronto fans do not necessarily use the O chant. Instead, they have been known to create large and brightly-coloured "O"'s – also seen during his time in Milwaukee – and hold them up during his at-bats. Overbay was also recognized for his time with the Brewers via a bobblehead doll in his likeness, given away during the 2005 season.

In 2005, he also played well with the Brewers. He hit a then career high 19 home runs, surpassing his 2004 total of 16. On July 23, he had a career high 6 RBI versus Cincinnati, hitting two home runs, including a grand slam. This feat was also the most in a season by a Brewer. He played very well against the Reds, batting .431 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI. He was traded to the Blue Jays in the off-season.^[4]

[edit] 2006–present: Toronto Blue Jays

On December 7, 2005, Overbay was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers along with pitching prospect Ty Taubenheim to Toronto in exchange for outfielder Gabe Gross and pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Jackson.^[5] Although, the trade was ackowledged as a needed acquisition for the Blue Jays,^[6] Overbay has not had the statistical impact hoped for, at least beyond 2006. In 2007 to 2008, Overbay statistically trailed Bush in the Sabermetric categories Wins above replacement player and Value over replacement player.^[7][8]

On July 5, 2006, Overbay was named American League Player of the Week^[9] after hitting .423 and hitting 4 HR during the week of June 26 to July 2, 2006. During the 2006 he put up career highs in most major categories, such as batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.

In 2006, he had a career season. He batted .312 with 92 RBI and 181 hits, which were all career highs. He had 46 doubles, which was tenth among the major leagues.^[10] On June 4, 2007, Overbay was hit by a pitch in the 6th inning in a game against the Chicago White Sox. The pitch was a high and inside fastball that ran in and hit Lyle in the hand, breaking 3 bones in his hand. He was on the Disabled List until July 13th, 2007, after which he rejoined the Blue Jays after the All-Star break. Since his return, he has struggled at the plate, especially with hitting for power.

On January 15, 2007, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Overbay to a 4-year contract, buying out his final two arbitration-eligible years, and his first two years of free agency, with a $24,000,000 contract.^[11] Overbay set a new team record on May 25, 2008 by reaching base in his 12th consecutive plate appearance by walking on a full count in the second inning. The previous record holder was Tony Fernandez who reached base 11 straight times. That season, he was criticized by fans for his penchant to ground into double plays. He finished 2008 tied for seventh overall in this category, with 24.^[12] Overbay is also one of only 14 players to hit into an unassisted triple play, serving up Asdrúbal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians on May 12th, 2008.

On June 8, 2009, Overbay was again named American League Player of the Week^[13] after leading the Major League in both batting average and slugging.

Overbay was named the 2009 American Legion Graduate of the Year.

[edit] See also

• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference
• Lyle Overbay - bio