Daryle Lamar Ward (born June 27, 1975) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

and

left fielder 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 system ...

. He played 11 seasons 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), ...

(MLB) from 1998 to 2008 for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

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 ...

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 (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. He is the son of former major leaguer Gary Ward. Daryle Ward is currently the Hitting Coach for the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organization.

Career

Ward came to the

in December

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

as part of a ten-player trade with Detroit. He won the 1999 AAA Home Run Derby in his home stadium of Zephyr Field in New Orleans. The next day, he hit a 3-run home run in the All Star Game, leading the PCL to victory after joining the team as a last minute replacement. His home run outshone

Russell Branyan Russell Oles Branyan (born December 19, 1975) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians (two occasions), Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers (two occasions), Tam ...

's solo home run in the same game. He debuted in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, hitting 8 home runs in 150 at bats. In 2000, he hit 20

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in just 264

at-bats 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 during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. In his third season for the Astros, Ward batted .263 with 9 home runs and 39 RBI in 95 games. The next year, 2002, he batted .276 with 12 home runs and 72 RBIs in 136 games. On July 6 of that year, he became the first player to hit a home run out of Pittsburgh's

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). It was opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, ...

and into the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

"on the fly" during a regular-season game (the other player being

Garrett Jones Garrett Thomas Jones (born June 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins and New York Yankees. Hi ...

with a 463-foot home run on June 2, 2013); the shot, a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

, came off

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Kip Wells Robert "Kip" Wells (born April 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox ...

. Many Home Runs have made the river on the bounce, and several home runs hit during the 2006 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby made the river on the fly as well, creating speculation of juiced balls. After the season the Astros traded Ward to the

. He spent

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

in a part-time role, hitting .183 with one

extra base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire anot ...

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

) in 109 at-bats. After the season, the Dodgers released Ward, and the Pirates signed him as a minor league

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. Ward played better in 2004, and the Pirates re-signed him for

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

as their part-time first baseman. Ward has signed on to become a member of the Chicago Cubs bench for 2007. In 549 career games played, Ward has batted .259 (384-1485), with 65 home runs, 254 RBI, 155 runs, 80 doubles and four

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, with an

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 ...

(OBP) of .306 and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

(SLG) of .447.

2004 season

After being called up from the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

to replace

Raúl Mondesí Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971) is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in ...

, Ward got off to a torrid start. On May 26, 2004, Ward, recalled from the Triple-A

two weeks before,

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League Ba ...

and tied his career high with six RBI in the Pirates' 11–8 victory over the

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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

. Ward hit a two-run

in the first, an RBI

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

in the fourth, golfed a three-run

homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

in the fifth and singled in the ninth. He was the first Pittsburgh player to hit for the cycle since

Jason Kendall Jason Daniel Kendall (born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1996 through 2010 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Kan ...

on May 19, 2000, against the Cardinals. Ward joined his father, Gary, to become the first father-son combination in major league history to hit for the cycle. The elder Ward accomplished the feat on September 18, 1980, for 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 ...

. (They were later joined by Craig and

Cavan Biggio Cavan Thomas Biggio ( '; born April 11, 1995) is an American professional baseball utility player for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player and Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. High school and coll ...

on September 17, 2019 as the only 2 father and son duos to hit for the cycle in MLB history.) Ward slumped later in the season, slowed down by a wrist

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

, and finished hitting .249 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI, with a .306 OBP and .474 SLG. Ward, along with

Valerio de los Santos Valerio Lorenzo de los Santos (born October 6, 1972) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. Milwaukee Brewers De los Santos was originally signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as an amateur free agent in 1993. He started his profession ...

, signed a deal to play with the Nationals.

2006 season

On August 31, 2006, Ward was traded to the

for minor-league pitcher

Luis Atilano Luis A. Atilano (born May 10, 1985) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals. Career Selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 2003 amateur draft, ...

2007 season

Ward was signed on December 7, 2006 by the

to a one-year deal worth $1.05 million after hitting .308 with a .380 OBP in 2006 for Washington and Atlanta in 150 combined plate appearances. He replaced

John Mabry John Steven Mabry (born October 17, 1970) is an American former professional baseball player, broadcaster, and coach. He is a coach for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He had 898 career hits in 3,409 at-bats (for a batting ...

as a backup at 1st base to

Derrek Lee Derrek Leon Lee (born September 6, 1975), nicknamed "D-Lee", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Lee played with the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates ...

. On May 6, Ward hit a game-winning single against his former team, the

. He was also called to replace Derrek Lee on May 13, after Lee left the game with neck

spasm A spasm is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ such as the bladder. A spasmodic muscle contraction may be caused by many medical conditions, including dystonia. Most commonly, it is a muscle c ...

s. Ward also saw time as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

in close game situations. On August 18 Ward hit a grand slam in the third inning off of

pitcher

Anthony Reyes Anthony Loza Reyes (born October 16, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He pitched primarily as a starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians. ...

, the third of his career and his first home run as a member of the Cubs. Ward finished the season with a career-high .327 batting average in 110 at-bats.

2008 season

On August 15, Ward launched a three-run pinch-hit homer with one out in the ninth inning to lift the Cubs to a 6–5 victory over the Florida Marlins for their ninth straight road win. The Cubs had lost their last 10 games at that stadium. He became a free agent at the end of the season. Ward finished the season with a .216 batting average, the second lowest of his career.

Minor Leagues

On February 5, 2009, Ward signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Cincinnati Reds. He was released by the Reds on March 23, 2009. He played in April with the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

and hit .222 in eight games before being signed to a minor league deal on May 2 with the Chicago White Sox and assigned to Triple A Charlotte where he hit 8 home runs in 69 games. On August 6, he was traded to the Washington Nationals organization along with outfielder Norris Hopper for cash and assigned to Syracuse. Ward hit five home runs in 30 games with the Syracuse Chiefs. Ward began the 2010 season with the

. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox on November 22, 2010. Ward signed a contract to play his second full season with the

on May 28, 2011. He was utilized as a first baseman and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. On August 1, he signed a minor league contract with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

and was assigned to the Double-A

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

. On September 13, 2011, he was released. After the season, he tested positive for an

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

and received a 50-game suspension for the following season. Ward played with the

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...

in 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 ...

in 2012 and 2013 and split 2014 between the Atlantic League (with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, that is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League, known as the Double-A Northeast in 2021, and ...

) and the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. On April 9, 2015, prior to the 2015 Atlantic League Season Ward signed with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. On July 20, he was released. On August 5, 2015, he signed a contract with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

References

External links

Daryle Ward
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) : {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Daryle 1975 births Living people African-American baseball players Algodoneros de Guasave players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Los Angeles Bristol Tigers players Charlotte Knights players Chicago Cubs players Diablos Rojos del México players Fayetteville Generals players Houston Astros players Iowa Cubs players Jackson Generals (Texas League) players Jacksonville Suns players Lakeland Tigers players Lancaster Barnstormers players Las Vegas 51s players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Mexican League baseball first basemen Mobile BayBears players Naranjeros de Hermosillo players Nashville Sounds players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New Orleans Zephyrs players Newark Bears players People from Lynwood, California Pittsburgh Pirates players Santa Ana Dons baseball players Somerset Patriots players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Sugar Land Skeeters players Syracuse Chiefs players Tigres de Quintana Roo players Toledo Mud Hens players Venados de Mazatlán players Washington Nationals players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople