Aaron Bates (born March 10, 1984) is an American retired 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 ...

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 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), ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in 2009. He is currently one of the hitting coaches for 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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

College

NCAA

Bates played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for both the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

and the San Jose State Spartans. He was a freshman All American for the San Jose State Spartans and twice named All American for the

. His best year coming in 2005, when he had arguably the greatest offensive season in wolfpack history hitting .425-12-64 and was drafted in the 8th round by the Florida Marlins. However, he returned to school for his junior season and hit .356-10-56 and was then selected by the

in 2006.

Collegiate summer

He played in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Brook ...

in the summer of 2005. He was named a Cape Cod League All Star alongside future

MLB 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), ...

stars

Evan Longoria Evan Michael Longoria (born October 7, 1985), nicknamed "Longo", is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2008 through 2017, and the S ...

, Justin Masterson, Daniel Bard and

Chris Coghlan Christopher B. Coghlan (pronounced KAHG-lihn; born June 18, 1985) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Florida / Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue ...

. Bates also won the 2005 All Star game Home Run Derby.

Professional

Boston Red Sox

He was drafted in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

in the 3rd round by the

. His first professional season was split between the Lowell Spinners and Greenville Drive. In 2007, Bates began the year with the Lancaster JetHawks before being promoted to the AA

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

. He played with Sea Dogs until June 2009, when he was promoted to AAA Pawtucket Red Sox. In May 2009, he was the Eastern League Player of the Month while playing with the Sea Dogs. On July 6, 2009, Bates was called up to the Red Sox to play at first base after

Jeff Bailey Jeffrey Todd Bailey (born November 19, 1978) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He formerly played catcher until a throwing disorder prompted him to change positions. Bailey grew up in ...

injured his ankle in a game two days before. He had four hits in 11 at-bats with the Red Sox, with his first hit being an RBI single to center field off

Román Colón Román Benedicto Colón (born August 13, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He is tall and weighs . Colón bats and throws right-handed. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, and ...

of the

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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. On July 26, 2010, the Red Sox outrighted Bates to Pawtucket, thus removing him from the 40-man roster. In March 2011 he was released by the Red Sox.

Minnesota Twins

On May 8, 2011 he was signed by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

to a minor league contract and sent to Rochester 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 level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He went on to finish 3rd in

in batting average, .316 and lead the league in

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

at .408. Bates then re-signed with the

for the 2012 season, before declaring free agency. In Spring Training 2012, he hit .400 (8-20) with the Major League Team, but was sent to the AAA

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

of the

to start the season. Bates was then released by the Twins on May 15, 2012 due to the subsequent demotions of then Twins 3rd baseman

Danny Valencia Daniel Paul Valencia (דני ולנסיה; born September 19, 1984) is an American-Israeli professional baseball player who currently plays for the Israeli national baseball team. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota T ...

veteran Sean Burroughs and rising star

Chris Parmelee Christopher Matthew Parmelee (born February 24, 1988) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and first baseman. He stands and weighs , and bats and throws left handed. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota ...

St. Louis Cardinals

On May 22, 2012, Bates signed a minor league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was subsequently released by the Cardinals at the end of July 2012 and signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the

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

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 29, 2014, he signed a minor league contract with the

and was assigned to the AA Chattanooga Lookouts. He spent most of the season on the disabled list and only played in 11 games, hitting .176.

Winter Leagues

Bates played in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente from 2008 to 2013. Playing for the Leones de Ponce in the winter of 2008, before being traded to the Criollos de Caguas. The Criollos played in the LBPRC championship series all four years he played with them. Winning championships in 2011 and 2013. In 2011, Bates played with Criollos in the

2011 Caribbean Series The fifty-third edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 2011. It was held from February 2 through February 7 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic (Toros del Este), Mexico (Yaquis de Obregón), Puerto Rico ...

hitting .333 over the course of 6 games. It was held in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

and they finished tied for 2nd with the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He most recently played in the

2013 Caribbean Series The fifty-fifth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 2013. The Series was held from February 1 through February 7, featuring the champion teams of the 2012–2013 season in the Dominican Winter League (Leones del E ...

hitting .333 (2-6) which took place in

Hermosillo, Mexico Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the ...

Bates' grandparents are from

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, thus allowing him to play as domestic in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente.

Coaching

He retired from playing to become an assistant coach for the Dodgers rookie class

Arizona League Dodgers The Arizona Complex League Dodgers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. The team is compos ...

team in 2015. In 2017, he was named hitting coach of the single-A Great Lakes Loons. He spent 2018 as a minor league coordinator before being named as the Dodgers Major League assistant hitting coach for the 2019 season. He was promoted to co-hitting coach for the 2023 season.

Personal

Bates grew up in the small coastal town of Santa Cruz,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He attended

Soquel High School Soquel High School is a high school in Soquel, California, located on Old San Jose Road. It has 1,200 students and was established in 1962. The school is operated by the Santa Cruz City High School District. The school mascot is the Knights. Aca ...

for his freshmen year, before transferring to Archbishop Mitty High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

where he played 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

. His senior season he was the

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

on the football team which went 12-1 and captured its first West Catholic Athletic League title in 25 years. He was inducted into the Archbishop Mitty High School Hall of Fame in January 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Aaron 1984 births Living people American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Boston Red Sox players Los Angeles Dodgers coaches NC State Wolfpack baseball players Lowell Spinners players Greenville Drive players Lancaster JetHawks players Portland Sea Dogs players Scottsdale Scorpions players Leones de Ponce players Pawtucket Red Sox players Criollos de Caguas players Rochester Red Wings players Memphis Redbirds players Sugar Land Skeeters players Chattanooga Lookouts players Minor league baseball coaches Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball hitting coaches Baseball players from San Jose, California Sportspeople from Manhattan Baseball players from New York City San Jose State Spartans baseball players Baseball coaches from California Brewster Whitecaps players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente infielders