James Ray Tatum (born October 9, 1967) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

utility player. 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 Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies,

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, and

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 ...

. Tatum also played in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

and in the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

for the

LG Twins LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is t ...

Career

Tatum was drafted by the

in the third round of the

1985 Major League Baseball draft First round draft picks The following are the first round picks in the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental First Round Selections Background Six of the first eight draft picks from the June regular phase had at least one full ...

. He was released by the Padres organization in 1988, and signed with 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 Fi ...

organization in 1989. After being released by the Indians, Tatum signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1990, and made his MLB debut with them in 1992, appearing in five games. In November 1992, Tatum was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the

1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft On November 17, 1992, during the 1992–93 offseason, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft in New York City to allow two expansion teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the Nat ...

. More than half of the games he would play in MLB came with the Rockies in 1993, where he hit .204 with 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 ...

and 12

runs batted in 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 ba ...

(RBI) in 92 games, used mostly as a pinch hitter. He remained with the Rockies organization until November 1, 1995, when he signed with the

as a free agent. He appeared in only two games for Boston in 1996 before being traded to the San Diego Padres for cash considerations. Tatum appeared in five games with the Padres in the 1996 season and became a free agent at the end of the season. In 1997, Tatum signed with the

(NPB), and appeared in 51 games, hitting .309 with 13 home runs and 25 RBI. He returned to MLB in 1998, playing in 35 games for the

. After spending the 1999 season with the Rockies organization, Tatum played in the minors for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 2000, before joining the

of the

for 20 games. With the Twins, Tatum hit .292 with four home runs and 12 RBI. he did not continue his playing career past the 2000 season. Tatum appeared in 1,481 total minor league games, and hit .289 with 172 home runs and 882 RBI.

References

External links

Mexican League statisticsKBO League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatum, Jim 1967 births Living people American Association (1902–1997) MVP Award winners American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Baseball players from San Diego Boston Red Sox players Canton-Akron Indians players Caribes de Oriente players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Charleston Rainbows players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Denver Zephyrs players Diablos Rojos del México players El Paso Diablos players KBO League infielders Fresno Grizzlies players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players LG Twins players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Milwaukee Brewers players Mexican League baseball left fielders Mexican League baseball right fielders New York Mets players Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Nippon Professional Baseball second basemen Pawtucket Red Sox players San Diego Padres players Spokane Indians players Stockton Ports players Wichita Pilots players Yakult Swallows players