Desmond Delane Jennings (born October 30, 1986) is an American former professional baseball

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 cat ...

. He has previously 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

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) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

Early life

Jennings was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, the second of three sons born to Edmond and Paulette Jennings. He is a cousin of

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

lineman Andre Smith. At

Pinson Valley High School Pinson Valley High School (PVHS) is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Pinson. It is the fifth largest of the Jefferson County Board of Education's fourteen high schools. School colors are garnet and gold, and t ...

Pinson, Alabama Pinson is a city in Jefferson County near Birmingham, Alabama, United States, northwest of Center Point. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,163. History Pinson was incorporated in March 2004. Geography This city is located at (33 ...

, Jennings lettered in baseball,

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

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. He received an offer from the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

to play both baseball and football collegiately. Jennings was selected by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in the 18th round of the 2005 amateur draft out of Pinson Valley High School but did not sign. After failing to qualify academically for the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, Jennings decided to enroll at

Itawamba Community College Itawamba Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Fulton, Mississippi. Additional campuses are in Belden and Tupelo. History Itawamba Community College began as an extension of Itawamba County Agricultural High ...

to play baseball and football; he led all junior college wide receivers with 54 receptions while scoring 6 touchdowns and netting 848 yards in 8 games. On the

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

, he hit .378 with 29 steals. Jennings was picked by the

Tampa Bay Devil 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 venu ...

in the 10th round of the 2006 amateur draft and signed.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

Jennings was the Rays' fifth-best prospect heading into the 2009 season according to ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'', and the 18th-best prospect overall in their midseason top 25. Jennings was named to the 2010

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. From 2008 to 2011, Jennings was a top-100 prospect in baseball in each preseason ranking of both ''Baseball America'' and

Baseball Prospectus Baseball Prospectus (BP) is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well as player and team perf ...

. He peaked at sixth overall in ''Baseball Americas pre-2010 ranking. In 2010, he batted .278 for the season in Triple-A Durham, and .190 in 21 at-bats with Tampa Bay. Jennings was called up from Triple-A Durham on July 23, 2011, as the Rays optioned

Reid Brignac Reid Michael Brignac (pronounced Brin-yack) (born January 16, 1986), is an American professional baseball manager and former professional baseball infielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, New ...

to Durham. At the time of his call-up, Jennings was batting .275 and leading the International League in runs scored, with 68. On July 28, 2011, Jennings blasted his first career home run, a two-run shot against the Oakland Athletics. On September 7, 2011, Jennings hit his first career

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

off

Mark Lowe Mark Christopher Lowe (born June 7, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, and Detr ...

to give the Rays a 5-4 win over the Texas Rangers and give them their 1,000th win in franchise history. With the departure of

B.J. Upton Melvin Emanuel Upton Jr. (born August 21, 1984), known as B. J. Upton, is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Pad ...

to Atlanta, Jennings began the 2013 season as the starting center fielder and lead-off hitter, with

Sam Fuld Samuel Babson Fuld (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the current general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Tampa B ...

as his backup. On August 3, Jennings fractured his left middle finger, and was placed on the disabled list 3 days later. Jennings returned on August 19, and finished the season with Tampa Bay. In 139 games, he hit .252/.334/.414 with 14 home runs, 54 RBI, 82 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. He led the team in triples (6) and stolen bases. On May 7, 2013, Jennings hit a line drive which hit

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

pitcher

J. A. Happ James Anthony Happ (born October 19, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, New Y ...

in the head. Happ needed to be carried off the field on a stretcher after an 11-minute delay. Jennings was visibly shaken by the accident but remained in the game. On May 3, 2015, Jennings was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to left knee bursitis. On August 26, 2016, The Rays announced that Jennings would be released the next day. Over his seven-year career with the

, he batted .245 with 55 home runs, 191 RBI, and 95 stolen bases.

Cincinnati Reds

On February 9, 2017, Jennings signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

. He was released by Cincinnati on March 31, 2017.

New York Mets

On April 5, 2017, Jennings signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

; he was assigned to the Mets' Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s. He was released from the Mets organization on June 16, 2017.

Acereros de Monclova

On April 11, 2018, Jennings signed with the

Acereros de Monclova The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Their home ballpark is Estadio de Béisbol Monclova, which has a capacity of 11,000 people. The Acere ...

of the

Mexican Baseball 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 ...

. He became a free agent following the 2018 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Desmond 1986 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Charlotte Stone Crabs players Columbus Catfish players Durham Bulls players Itawamba Indians baseball players Las Vegas 51s players Major League Baseball outfielders Mexican League baseball center fielders Mexican League baseball left fielders Montgomery Biscuits players Peoria Javelinas players Princeton Devil Rays players Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama Tampa Bay Rays players Vero Beach Devil Rays players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people