Gregory Grant Desme (born April 4, 1986, in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

) is an American professional baseball

center fielder 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 ...

who is a free agent. Desme was a junior

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, when he was drafted in 2007 by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. After a

30-30 30-30 or ''variation'', may refer to: * 30–30 club, a term in baseball * .30-30 Winchester, a rifle round * ¡30-30!, Mexican artists' group, named after the rifle * Thirty Thirty, a main character on ''BraveStarr'' television series * Santana 3 ...

2009 season in the minors and being named

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 fill ...

MVP, Desme retired. Desme came out of retirement in 2018 to play 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 ...

of the independent

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 ...

Amateur career

High school

He attended Stockdale High School in Bakersfield and was an all-area selection as a junior and senior. He was first-team selectee for the Southwest Yosemite League (SWYL). As a senior, he was co-Most Valuable Player of the SWYL.

College

He started his college career at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He transferred to Cal Poly, where he was named 2007

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

Player of the Year.

Professional career

Oakland Athletics

Desme began his professional baseball career with the Short-Season

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium. ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

in 2007. Desme was selected in the second round of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

before being assigned to the Canadians. He batted .261 with three doubles, one

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 ...

, six

RBIs 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 bat ...

and two

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

in 12 games. The next season, 2008, he only played two games after he injured his

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the Carpal bones, carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known ...

in 2007 and his

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

the next year. In 2009, Desme had an extraordinary season. He hit a combined .288 with 31 doubles, six

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 ...

, 31 home runs, 89 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in 131 games with the Class-A

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...

and the Class-A Advanced

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Ba ...

. On January 22, 2010, it was reported that Desme planned to retire from professional baseball and study to become a priest. He said this about his situation: He took the name Matthew Desme of the

Norbertine Order The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

. He said he found great peace in the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience.

Lancaster Barnstormers

On May 22, 2018, Desme came out of retirement to join the

of the

. He is serving as the head baseball coach at

Ave Maria University Ave Maria University (AMU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Ave Maria, Florida. It shares its history with the former Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which was founded in 1998 and moved its campus in 2007. The two schools wer ...

. He became a free agent following the 2018 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desme, Grant 1986 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Athletics players Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Bakersfield, California Kane County Cougars players Cal Poly Mustangs baseball players Catholics from California Lancaster Barnstormers players Premonstratensians San Diego State Aztecs baseball players Stockton Ports players Vancouver Canadians players