Gregory Stuart Dobbs (born July 2, 1978), 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, who 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

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, Florida / Miami Marlins and

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 ...

. Dobbs was primarily a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and could also play the corner

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

positions and

first base 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 ...

Early career

Dobbs graduated from Canyon Springs High School (CA) in June 1996. He was drafted by the

in the 52nd round of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft, but opted to attend Riverside (CA) Community College instead. While at the

Long Beach State University California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

in , he was drafted in the 10th round of the

1999 Major League Baseball draft The 1999 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, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

by 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 ...

, but opted to stay in school. Dobbs led the Sooners as a senior in with a .438

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

, 104

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 25 doubles, 62

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 12 steals, and graduated with a degree in sociology.

Major leagues

Seattle Mariners

Dobbs was signed by the

as an amateur

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 ...

on May 28, 2001.

Philadelphia Phillies

He was placed on waivers by the Mariners on January 15, 2007, and quickly claimed by former Mariners general manager (GM)

Pat Gillick Lawrence Patrick David Gillick (born August 22, 1937) is an American professional baseball executive. He previously served as the general manager of four MLB teams: the Toronto Blue Jays (1978–1994), Baltimore Orioles (1996–1998), Seattle Ma ...

(then GM of the Philadelphia Phillies), who had previously drafted Dobbs while still with Seattle. After a strong 2007

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

with the Phillies, Dobbs made the major league roster, platooning at third base with

Wes Helms Wesley Ray Helms (born May 12, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. During his 13-year playing career, Helms played for the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Florida Marlins, and Philadelphia Phillies. He played primarily as ...

. Dobbs' great hitting gave him more starts in 2007. He was mainly used 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 the beginning of the season, but his clutch pinch hits and good

at-bat 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 bat ...

s while starting got him more playing time with the Phillies. Over 2007 and 2008, Dobbs led the majors in pinch-hit RBIs. In 2007, he finished in first place with 18 pinch-hit RBIs, the most in the major leagues. In 2008, his pinch-hitting prowess continued as he led the majors with 22 pinch hits and a .355 batting average while finishing second among pinch hitters with 16 RBIs. Dobbs struggled to replicate his 2008 season in 2009, hitting just .247 with 5 home runs and 20 RBIs. In the 2010 season, Dobbs batted .152 before the Phillies designated him for assignment on June 22 to activate

Jimmy Rollins James Calvin Rollins (born November 27, 1978), nicknamed "J-Roll", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Los Angeles Dodgers (), and Chicago White ...

from the disabled list. He cleared waivers and began to play for the

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

. After appearing in four games for Lehigh Valley, Dobbs was recalled to the major leagues, where he replaced

Plácido Polanco Plácido Enrique Polanco (; born October 10, 1975) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins. He was a ...

, who was placed on the disabled list. On August 17, he was designated for assignment when the Phillies removed

Chase Utley Chase Cameron Utley (born December 17, 1978), nicknamed "The Man" and "Silver Fox", is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 16 seasons, primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies. He ...

from the 15-day disabled list. On September 3 Dobbs was recalled from Lehigh Valley.

Florida/Miami Marlins

On January 31, 2011, Dobbs signed a minor league contract with the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

with an invite to spring training. He made it in the 25-man roster for the 2011 season. He was designated for assignment on April 29, 2014. He was released on May 6.

Washington Nationals

On May 12, 2014, Dobbs signed a minor league contract with the

. His contract was selected on May 16, 2014, and he was added to the active roster.

Personal life

Dobbs resides in

La Cañada Flintridge, California La Cañada Flintridge, commonly known as "La Cañada" (Spanish for "The Canyon"), is a city in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles County, California. Located in the Crescenta Valley, in the western edge of Southern Califor ...

, with his wife Heidi. He also has a daughter, Taylor, born December 20, 2006. He is pursuing a degree in business during the Major League Baseball offseason.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Greg 1978 births Living people Seattle Mariners players Philadelphia Phillies players Florida Marlins players Miami Marlins players Washington Nationals players Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Everett AquaSox players San Bernardino Stampede players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players San Antonio Missions players Tacoma Rainiers players Peoria Javelinas players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Syracuse Chiefs players Baseball players from Los Angeles Major League Baseball third basemen People from La Cañada Flintridge, California Anchorage Glacier Pilots players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players