Raymond Lee Sadler (born September 19, 1980 in

Clifton, Texas Clifton is the largest city in Bosque County, in Central Texas in the United States. The city's population was 3,442 at the 2010 census. Geography Clifton is located at (31.780275, –97.580825). According to the United States Census Bureau, ...

) 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 ...

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 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), ...

in 2005 for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Sadler bats and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, is tall, and weighs . His cousin

Donnie Sadler Donnie Lamont Sadler (born June 17, 1975) is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998–2007. Career An alumnus of Valley Mills High School in Valley Mills, Texas (where he was a ...

, has also played Major League Baseball.

Professional career

Sadler played baseball at Clifton High School, and in 1999 the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

selected him with the 920th pick of the June draft, as part of the 30th round. The Cubs did so with the intention of treating him as a "

draft and follow Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

" player, and he signed with the Cubs after 2 seasons at

Hill College Hill College is a public community college in Hillsboro, Texas. It opened its doors in 1923, one year before North Central Texas College, which is the oldest continuously-operating community college in Texas because Hill College was closed d ...

, a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

Hillsboro, Texas Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Hill County, Texas, Hill County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,221 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hillsboro was named for Hill County. At one point during Bon ...

. Sadler was traded from the Cubs to the

on August 17, 2003, in a

deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

deal for

Randall Simon Randall Carlito Simon (born May 25, 1975) is a Curaçaoan former professional baseball first baseman. He has played all or parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), LVBP and one in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) between 1997 a ...

. When outfielder Craig Wilson injured a tendon in his hand on May 8, 2005, the Pirates turned to Sadler as an emergency replacement, purchasing his contract from the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...

. He had no time to prepare, but reported immediately to the Pirates' clubhouse, where he was mistaken for a construction worker by surprised manager

Lloyd McClendon Lloyd Glenn McClendon (born January 11, 1959) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1987 to 1994 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and the ...

. Sadler made his major league debut that night, and three days later, he collected his first major league

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

: a

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 ...

to left field against Giants starter

Noah Lowry Noah Ryan Lowry (born October 10, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2007. College and the MLB Draft Lowry was first drafted out of Nordhof ...

. After playing three games in

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

, Sadler was optioned back down to the minors on May 13, and he was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on September 16. This was the first outright assignment of Sadler's career, so he remained with the Pirates organization after clearing waivers. After the 2006 season, Sadler was acquired 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 ...

organization. He played the entire 2007 season as a member of the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned by ...

, Houston's AA affiliate, leading the team in home runs and

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 bat ...

while earning Team MVP honors. In 2008, Sadler split time between Corpus Christi and the Triple-A

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

in the Astros' system. Sadler became a free agent at the end of the 2008 season and signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

in December. On August 6, 2009 Sadler was released by the Rays, and signed a minor league contract with the

two days later. He became a free agent again after the season, and in 2010 signed with the

Kansas City T-Bones The Kansas City Monarchs are a professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Kansas. Formerly known as the Kansas City T-Bones, they are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball; which, in 2020, became designated as a Majo ...

of the independent Northern League. He played for the club in the 2011 season as well. Sadler played for the

of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

in 2012. In 2013, Sadler played for the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of the Northern ...

and T-Bones of the

. Sadler played for the Goldeyes and T-Bones during the 2014 season as well and played for the

Sussex County Miners The Sussex County Miners are a professional independent league baseball team based in the Augusta section of Frankford Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The Miners are members of the East Division of the Frontier League, an ...

in 2015.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadler, Ray 1980 births African-American baseball players Altoona Curve players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Cubs players Baseball players from Texas Caffe Danesi Nettuno players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Caribes de Anzoátegui players Corpus Christi Hooks players Daytona Cubs players Durham Bulls players American expatriate baseball players in Italy Hill College Rebels baseball players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City T-Bones players Lansing Lugnuts players Living people Major League Baseball left fielders People from Clifton, Texas Pittsburgh Pirates players Round Rock Express players Sussex County Miners players Venados de Mazatlán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Winnipeg Goldeyes players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people