Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979) 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 professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the 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 (A ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers,

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, St. Louis Cardinals,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

, and

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Career

Oakland Athletics

Laird first attended

Rancho Alamitos High School Rancho Alamitos High School is in Garden Grove, California. It is a member of the Garden Grove Unified School District and serves north-central Garden Grove and a section of Stanton. The high school first opened in the spring of 1957 with no se ...

, and then later graduated from La Quinta High School in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

. He was chosen 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 t ...

in the second round of the 1998 draft, but held out for more money. When the A's declined, Laird enrolled in Cypress College and led its baseball team to the finals. In June 1999, Oakland and Laird negotiated a new contract. In his first minor league season, 1999, he played 60 games with the Low-A

Southern Oregon Timberjacks The Southern Oregon Timberjacks were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Medford, Oregon. The team played in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League and were an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 21 seasons ...

and hit .285. He divided the 2000 season between the rookie-level Arizona League Athletics and High-A Visalia Oaks, but a broken wrist limited his playing time. Going into the 2001 season he was considered a top prospect until he tailed off to .255 with the

Modesto A's Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

Texas Rangers

Shortly before the 2002 season Oakland traded Laird to the Texas Rangers along with outfielder Ryan Ludwick, Jason Hart and

Mario Ramos Mario Martin Ramos (born October 19, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Ramos was born in Aurora, Illinois. He went to Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville, Texas, where he also resides today. He was a 5'11", 180-pound pitcher ...

, for slugging

first baseman 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 ...

Carlos Peña and southpaw relief

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Mike Venafro Michael Robert Venafro (born August 2, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher. He played professionally for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Ro ...

. Texas assigned Laird to its Double-A

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

, where his strong defensive play and improved batting average (.276) drew plaudits. He joined the Rangers for 2003

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 roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

, but was soon farmed out to the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks. The parent club recalled him on April 30 when catcher

Todd Greene Todd Anthony Greene (born May 8, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. In an 11-year career, he played for the Anaheim Angels (–), Toronto Blue Jays (2000), New York Yankees (), Texas Rangers (–), Colorado Rockies (–), and San Fr ...

went on the disabled list, and he made his major league debut the same day. But when Greene returned from the disabled list after 15 days, Laird was optioned back to Oklahoma. The Rangers recalled him again in September when the rosters expanded, and he remained with the big league club for the rest of the season. In his two stints with Texas, he got into only 19 games and hit .273 but at the end of the year was chosen for the

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Basebal ...

squad. Laird won the Rangers' starting catching job in 2004

after the

Einar Diaz Einar is a Scandinavian given name deriving from the Old Norse name Einarr, which according to Guðbrandur Vigfússon is directly connected with the concept of the einherjar, warriors who died in battle and ascended to Valhalla in Norse mythology ...

trade, but after dislocating his thumb in a home plate collision in May ended up on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

and lost his starting job to Rod Barajas. After spending most of the 2005 season in Triple-A, he was called up again as backup catcher for the Rangers in 2006. He went into that season well-regarded around the majors for his defensive skills despite a career MLB batting average of only .234.. Commented

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 ...

general manager Kevin Towers: "The Rangers knew they had a commodity. The only way they were going to part with him was if some team grossly overpaid n a trade" In 78 games in 2006, he hit an improved .296 with seven home runs, earning the starting catcher's job for 2007. New Ranger manager Ron Washington took a special interest in him during spring training: "I just want him to concentrate on making this pitching staff better and helping them to believe in him." But that year he had the lowest

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

of all major league catchers (.984) and the lowest range factor among full-time AL catchers (6.83). Compensating for the low fielding percentage, he threw out 40% of attempted base stealers, ranking him second behind 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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

' Kenji Johjima in 2007. He was also in the second most

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Lea ...

s among all MLB catchers despite being among the lowest in fielding chances.

Detroit Tigers

On December 8, 2008, he was traded to the

for two

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

pitchers, Carlos Melo and Guillermo Moscoso. The Tigers named him starting catcher ahead of Dane Sardinha and Matt Treanor, and Laird rewarded them with the highest caught-stealing throwing average in the American League. In May 2010, while struggling offensively, Laird changed his jersey number from 8 to 12.

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Laird to a one-year contract for the 2011 season, where he won his first

World Series ring A World Series ring is an award given to Major League Baseball players who win the World Series. Since only one Commissioner's Trophy is awarded to the team, a World Series ring is an individual award that players and staff of each World Series ...

as backup catcher to All-Star Yadier Molina.

Detroit Tigers (second stint)

On November 18, 2011, the

welcomed Laird back with a one-year contract for the 2012 season as backup catcher to

Alex Avila Alexander Thomas Avila (born January 29, 1987) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2009 and 2021 he played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins and Washingt ...

while slugger Victor Martinez, often used as a DH rather than as a catcher in any event, was on the disabled list for the entire season. He rewarded them by hitting .282, often hitting DH, in the regular season and helping them come back from well behind the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

to win their second consecutive AL Central Division title, edge the powerful young upstart

3–2 in the ALDS thanks to defending MVP Justin Verlander's stellar pitching in Games 1 & 5, and then sweep the suddenly discombobulated

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

4–0 in the ALCS. Laird had the key hit that put the Tiger's ahead in Kansas City the night they beat the Royals to clinch the AL Central for 2012. He was in his second World Series in a row, which the Tigers lost to 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 Yo ...

4–0, and became a free agent on October 29.

Atlanta Braves

After former Braves backup David Ross signed with

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

for a two-year contract early in the off-season, the Braves scavenged the open market for a backup catcher. They found Laird, signing him to a two-year, $3 million contract with up to $750,000 in performance bonuses based on games played. With Brian McCann leaving in free agency, Laird handled the primary backup role to Evan Gattis in 2014. Laird ended his tenure with the Braves posting a .204 batting average.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On February 2, 2015, he signed a minor league contract with the

. A back injury sustained during the first month of the season ended Laird's season. He was designated for assignment on August 20, 2015 and released on August 24.

Toros de Tijuana

On June 16, 2016, Laird signed with the

Toros de Tijuana The Toros de Tijuana (or Tijuana Bulls) are a Mexican Baseball team based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. They are members of the Mexican Baseball League and play their home games at Estadio Chevron. Team history Original Attempt The fr ...

of the Mexican Baseball League.

Minor league managing career

He retired at the end of the 2016 season to become the manager of the Single-A

affiliate, the Connecticut Tigers of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

Personal life

Laird is represented by sports agent Scott Boras. His younger brother, Brandon has also played in MLB.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Laird, Gerald 1979 births Living people Texas Rangers players Detroit Tigers players St. Louis Cardinals players Atlanta Braves players Arizona Diamondbacks players Cypress Chargers baseball players Southern Oregon Timberjacks players Arizona League Athletics players Visalia Oaks players Modesto A's players Tulsa Drillers players Team USA players Oklahoma RedHawks players Arizona League Rangers players Memphis Redbirds players Gwinnett Braves players American baseball players of Mexican descent Baseball players from California Major League Baseball catchers People from Westminster, California