Jason Thomas Berken (born November 27, 1983) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

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 ...

. He has 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

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and

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 locate ...

College

Berken graduated from

West De Pere High School West De Pere High School is one of two public high schools in De Pere, Wisconsin, USA. Built in 1960, it serves students in the 9th to the 12th grade. The school's mascot is the Phantom. The Phantoms compete in the Bay Conference. History In 2 ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

. While at Clemson, he played for the

New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...

Keene Swamp Bats The Keene Swamp Bats are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Keene, New Hampshire. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer basebal ...

. In 186 innings with Clemson, Berken pitched to an 18–6 record, 3.04 ERA, and 156 strikeouts.

Professional career

Baltimore Orioles

Berken was drafted by the

in the sixth round (175th overall) of the 2006 MLB draft. On May 26 2009, after pitching just 25 innings for Triple-A

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

, he was called up to the Orioles' roster to replace injured

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 ...

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. Berken earned his first major league win that day, giving up two runs in five innings in a 7–2 victory over the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. However, he finished the year with a 6–12 record, along with a 6.54 ERA in 119 innings pitched. This led to Berken being named the "AL Les Sweetland Award winner" by SI writer

Joe Posnanski Joe Posnanski (; nicknamed "Poz" and "Joe Po"; born January 8, 1967) is an American sports journalist. A former senior columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'' (where he wrote the blog Curiously Long Posts) and columnist for ''The Kansas City Star'', ...

for finishing the year as the worst starting pitcher in the American League.

Chicago Cubs

On September 7 2012, Berken was claimed off waivers by the Cubs. On September 20, Berken recorded four strikeouts in an inning.

Chicago White Sox

On April 2 2013, Berken signed as a minor league free agent with 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 ...

for 2013 season.

San Francisco Giants

On November 15 2013, Berken signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

. On March 31 2014, he was assigned to the Triple-A

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in d ...

Philadelphia Phillies

On February 24 2015, Berken signed a minor league deal with the

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 ...

. On March 2 2015, he was assigned to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He elected free agency on 6 November.

Toronto Blue Jays

On February 17 2016, Berken signed a minor league contract with the

. He became a free agent on 7 November 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berken, Jason 1983 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Chicago Cubs players Baseball players from Wisconsin Major League Baseball pitchers Aberdeen IronBirds players Frederick Keys players Bowie Baysox players Norfolk Tides players Charlotte Knights players Fresno Grizzlies players Sportspeople from Green Bay, Wisconsin Clemson Tigers baseball players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players