Benjamin James Guez (born January 24, 1987) was drafted by the Tigers in 2008, and has played in Detroit's organization from to 2008-2014. He played in the Milwaukee Brewers organization from 2014-2016. In 2012, he was named an MiLB.com Organization All Star for the season, and the Scout.com

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 Mud Hens team has played in ...

Player of the Year. Guez also played for the

Israel national baseball team The Israel national baseball team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בבייסבול) represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Israeli-American former Major League Baseball World Series champion, World Baseball Classic champion, ...

in the Qualification Round to the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

, playing under the team's manager

Brad Ausmus Bradley David Ausmus (; born April 14, 1969) is an American former professional baseball manager and catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). In his 18-year MLB playing career, Ausmus played for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Ast ...

Early life and personal

Guez was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, where he resides during the off-season. He is Jewish, was Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Or Hadash in 2000, and says his Jewish upbringing "definitely made me more disciplined as a person." Guez played

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationWest U during his childhood. He attended Lamar High School in Houston, graduating in 2005. There, he played

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

for the baseball team, lettering twice, and was first team All-District in 2004 and 2005. He was also selected to the pre-season All-Houston All Star team, and played in the All-Greater-Houston All Star game.

College career

Guez played college baseball at

William and Mary William and Mary often refers to: * The joint reign of William III of England (II of Scotland) and Mary II of England (and Scotland) * William and Mary style, a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 named for the couple William and Mary may ...

, where he majored in economics and

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

. In 2007, as a sophomore, he posted a .270

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 ...

, with 2 home runs and 24

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. The following year as a junior, his average jumped to .390 and he hit 13 homers, while being ranked 9th nationally in runs scored with 75 (the second-highest total in school history), driving in 51 runs and stealing 15 bases, and he had a .470 on-base percentage and .662 slugging percentage, in 57 games, earning All- Colonial Athletic Association honors, and being named to the Second-Team

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

East All-Region Team. That season, he squeeze bunted for the district championship. During the summer of 2006, he played for the Covington Lumberjacks in the

Valley Baseball League The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. The league was started in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. It has been a wooden bat league since 199 ...

, batting .272 with 2 home runs, 18 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 42 games. In the summer of 2007 he played with the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the ca ...

in the Cape Cod League, hitting .282 with 3 home runs, 24 RBIs, and 9 stolen bases, and started in

in the Cape Cod League All-Star Game. In June 2008, after being recommended by Bill Buck, he was taken by the Tigers in the 19th round of the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

Minor league career

2008–10

After being drafted, Guez joined the

Oneonta Tigers The Oneonta Tigers were a minor league baseball team located in Oneonta, New York. They were members of the New York–Penn League. The Tigers were the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and played their home games ...

for his first professional season, and batted .223 over the course of 70 games in 2008. He homered 5 times, drove in 25 runs, and tied for the league lead with 8 outfield assists. Guez played for the

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpa ...

, Detroit's affiliate in the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, for the 2009 season. In 104 appearances, he batted .275 with 12 homers and 64 RBIs, and tied for fourth in the Midwest League with a .483 slugging percentage. A right hamstring strain caused him to take a trip to the disabled list from June 10–25. He rebounded to earn Midwest League Player of the Week honors after batting .440 with 2 homers and 6 runs batted in, and was second in the Midwest League with 67 total bases, from July 13–19. Guez's performance during August, a month in which he hit .355, homered 4 times, and drove in 16 runs, led to him being named the Tigers Minor League Player of the Month. In 2010, Guez started the year with the

Lakeland Flying Tigers The Lakeland Flying Tigers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Lakeland, Florida, and play their home games at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. H ...

. After making only nine appearances with Lakeland, he was promoted to the

, Detroit's top minor league team. On June 3, Guez returned to Lakeland, and remained there for three weeks before joining the Erie SeaWolves on June 24. He once again rejoined Lakeland on July 6. Ten days later, he was moved to Toledo and he finished the minor league season with the Mud Hens. Overall, Guez made 105 appearances with the three clubs, batting .249, homering 10 times, and driving in 43 runs while stealing 14 bases. During the winter, he played for the Surprise Rafters of the

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

2011–present

Guez split the 2011 season between Erie and Toledo. He appeared in 38 games with the SeaWolves, batting .299 with 4 homers and 24 RBIs and a .504 slugging percentage. In 95 appearances for the Mud Hens, his average was .278, he homered 3 times and drove in 32 runs. As was the case the year before, Guez played with both Erie and Toledo in 2012. He batted .308 with a .481 on-base percentage for Erie over the course of 26 games, while homering 3 times and getting 11 runs batted in. He appeared in 82 games with Toledo and posted a .284 average, .379 on-base percentage, and 455. slugging percentage, with 6 home runs and 37 RBIs with the Mud Hens. He was named an MiLB.com Organization All Star for the season, and the Scout.com Toledo Mud Hens Player of the Year. In the winter of 2013–14, he played for the

Águilas de Mexicali The Águilas de Mexicali ( en, Mexicali Eagles) are a professional baseball based in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. They compete in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP), a Mexican winter league. The team plays at Estadio Nido de los Águilas als ...

in the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule ru ...

. He played in the 2014 season for the Toledo Mud Hens. In December 2014, the Milwaukee Brewers signed him and invited him to major league spring training. He began 2015 playing for the Brewers' AAA club in Colorado Springs. In his minor league career he has played all three outfield positions, but mostly played right field and center field.

Team Israel

Guez was a member of the

(Team Israel) in the Qualification Round to the

in September 2012, playing under the team's manager

. Team Israel, under the Classic's rules, was entitled to have non-Israeli citizens of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

heritage play for the team. Guez said that when Ausmus called him up and asked him to play for Team Israel, "it was like a shoo-in. I was honored that he would ask to play for his team. It was kind of a no-brainer." He batted leadoff and played center field, and joined an outfield that included Adam Greenberg,

Joc Pederson Joc Russell Pederson ( ; born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Br ...

Robbie Widlansky Robert Eric Widlansky (born November 6, 1984) is a former professional baseball outfielder who played internationally for the Israel national baseball team. In college, he won the Sun Belt Conference batting title his senior season, with a Flor ...

, and

Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder. Green was a 1st round draft pick and a two-time major league All-Star. He drove in 100 runs four times and scored 100 runs four times, hit ...

. Israel lost to Spain in extra innings in the Pool Finals, missing out on a spot in the World Baseball Classic. During all three games of the qualifier, Guez batted lead off and started in center field. During the opening game Guez went 0 for 4 with a strike out and a walk. During the second game Guez went 1 for 4, with a run scored and a strike out. During the third and final game, Guez went 1 for 4 with a double, scored a run, with a walk and a strike out.

References

External links

Ben Guez
at Facebook
"Mud Hens Minutes: Ben Guez"
2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Guez, Ben 1987 births Living people Baseball players from Houston Gulf Coast Tigers players West Michigan Whitecaps players Bourne Braves players Lakeland Flying Tigers players Toledo Mud Hens players Erie SeaWolves players William & Mary Tribe baseball players Jewish American baseball people American people of Tunisian-Jewish descent Surprise Rafters players Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Águilas de Mexicali players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players