David Christopher DeJesus (; born December 20, 1979) is an American former 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 t ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. 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), ...

(MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs,

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 ...

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

and

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

. DeJesus, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is currently an analyst for the Cubs with

NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...

Career

DeJesus was raised in

Manalapan Township Manalapan Township (, ) is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the t ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and played high school baseball at

Manalapan High School Manalapan High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Manalapan Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Freehold Regional High School District. The school serves students i ...

. He was drafted out of high school by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the 43rd round of the

1997 Major League Baseball Draft The 1997 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1997. A total of 1607 players were drafted over the course of 92 rounds. First round selections ...

. DeJesus did not sign with the Mets, opting instead to attend

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. In 1998 he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) for 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 ...

, and returned to the CCBL in 1999 with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

where he was named a league all-star. DeJesus was drafted in the fourth round of the

2000 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections Compensation picks Background The Florida Marlins made Adrián González of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California the first overall selection in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft. González, who was rated as ...

by the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas City Royals

DeJesus made his Major League debut on September 2, 2003. After

Carlos Beltrán Carlos Iván Beltrán (; born April 24, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Fran ...

was traded to the Houston Astros in 2004, DeJesus became the starting center fielder for the Royals. He finished sixth in the 2004 Rookie of the Year voting. On March 9, 2006, DeJesus signed a five-year, $13.8 million contract extension with the Royals through 2010, with a club option for the 2011 season. On June 15, 2008, De Jesus hit the first

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 ...

of his career. This prompted the game caller to remark, "He smashed the living DeJesus out of that ball!" In 2010, DeJesus was in threat of being traded along with his fellow starting outfielders,

Scott Podsednik Scott Eric Podsednik (; born March 18, 1976) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Best known for his baserunning, Podsednik led the major leagues in stolen bases in with 70, in times caught stea ...

and

José Guillén José Manuel Guillén (pronounced ; born May 17, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. Guillén played for ten Major League Baseball (MLB) teams in his career. Professional career Pittsburgh Pirates Guillén was signed b ...

, who were both traded. DeJesus, on the other hand, tore a tendon on his right thumb crashing into a fence in

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

on July 22 trying to catch a fly ball by

New York 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 of ...

shortstop Derek Jeter that eventually ended up being an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score ...

for Jeter and had season-ending surgery. DeJesus was hoping to return to the team in September, but instead was moved to the 60-Day DL. He finished the 2010 season batting .318 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs in 352 at-bats. On October 2, 2010, the Royals picked up his $6 million club option for 2011.

Oakland Athletics

On November 11, 2010, DeJesus was traded to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher

Vin Mazzaro Vincent Michael "Vin" Mazzaro (born September 27, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Sussex County Miners of the Frontier League. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Pitt ...

and minor league pitcher Justin Marks. He finished his lone season with Oakland batting .240 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs in 131 games.

Chicago Cubs

On November 30, 2011, DeJesus signed a two-year deal worth $10 million, to be the primary right fielder for the Chicago Cubs. In 2013, due to the signing of

Nate Schierholtz Nathan John "Nate" Schierholtz (born February 15, 1984) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2007–2012), Philadelphia Phillies (2012), Chicago Cubs ...

, DeJesus moved to center field for the 2013 season.

Washington Nationals

On August 19, 2013, DeJesus was traded to the

for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. He appeared in three games for the Nationals, going 0-for-3.

Tampa Bay Rays

On August 23, the Nationals traded DeJesus to the

for future considerations. DeJesus got off to a hot start with the Rays culminating in a walk-off single in the 18th inning against the Baltimore Orioles scoring Desmond Jennings. On November 6, 2013, DeJesus re-signed with the Rays, inking a two-year, $10.5 million deal. The Rays, without a true designated hitter, put DeJesus in that role in 2014, where he appeared the most. On June 19, DeJesus was placed on the disabled list with a left hand fracture on a check swing the previous day. He was hitting .269 with 5 HR and 17 RBI in 62 games before the injury. He was leading the team with a .367 OBP and a .440 SLG.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On July 28, 2015, DeJesus was traded to the

for minor league pitcher Eduar Lopez.

Retirement

On March 22, 2017 DeJesus announced his retirement

Personal life

DeJesus was married to former high school art teacher and ''

The Amazing Race 23 ''The Amazing Race 23'' is the twenty-third season of the American reality television show '' The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on September 29, 2013, and the tw ...

'' contestant Kim DeJesus ( Iliff). Together, they have a son named David Kingston DeJesus Jr. He goes by the name Kingston.

References

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/392080/david-dejesus

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dejesus, David 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Baseball players from New York (state) Manalapan High School alumni Major League Baseball center fielders People from Manalapan Township, New Jersey Kansas City Royals players Oakland Athletics players Chicago Cubs players Washington Nationals players Tampa Bay Rays players Los Angeles Angels players Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball players Bourne Braves players Chatham Anglers players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Wichita Wranglers players Omaha Royals players Peoria Javelinas players Arizona League Cubs players Gulf Coast Rays players Charlotte Stone Crabs players