James Brian Dozier (;born May 15, 1987) 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 ...

second baseman. The

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his MLB debut in 2012 and he played in MLB for the Twins,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

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 Stadi ...

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 leagu ...

. Dozier was an All-Star in 2015, and won a

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

in 2017.

Amateur career

Dozier attended and played baseball for Itawamba Agricultural High School located in Fulton,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

, becoming a local star in the town of 4,000. In baseball, he was selected All-State for two years and named "Player of the Year" in north Mississippi. He also received varsity letters in football, golf, and basketball. While playing in high school, he also played for American Legion Baseball's Post 49's Tupelo 49ers from 2002–2005.

College career

Dozier attended the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

and 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

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles (also known as Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles) are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), located in Hattiesburg, Missi ...

from 2006 through 2009. He was named a Freshman All-American and selected to the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

All-Freshman Team. In 224 career games at Southern Miss, he hit .355 with 55 doubles, seven triples, 16 home runs, and 152 runs batted in. He was a member of the Southern Miss team that went to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

in 2009. He played for the

Bethesda Big Train The Bethesda Big Train is a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bethesda, Maryland. The team is a member of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL), and derives its name from the nickname of Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson, w ...

of the

Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan areas. The CRCBL is a member of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NAC ...

in 2006.

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

The

selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He was chosen as the Twins Minor League Player of the Year in 2011. The Twins invited Dozier to

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 ...

in 2012. Dozier was called up in May 2012 to replace Justin Morneau. On May 13, Dozier hit his first career Major League

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 is ...

off Ricky Romero of 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 ...

. In 2012 he batted .234/.271/.332 with 6 home runs in 316 at bats. In 2013 he batted .244/.312/.414. In 2014, Dozier surpassed Hall of Famer

Paul Molitor Paul Leo Molitor (born August 22, 1956), nicknamed "Molly" and "the Ignitor", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and former manager of the Minnesota Twins, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. During his 21-year baseball car ...

's Twins franchise record of 25 runs scored in the month of April, a record that had stood for 18 years. Dozier was not selected to the 2014 All-Star Game, however he was selected by American League captain

José Bautista José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980), nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican special advisor for the general manager of the Leones del Escogido and former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman. He played in Majo ...

to participate in the 2014 Home Run Derby. On August 20, Dozier became the first second baseman in Twins history and 13th in MLB history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in one season. Additionally, Dozier was the first Twins player since

Torii Hunter Torii Kedar Hunter (; born July 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Detroit Tigers from 1997 ...

did so in 2004. At season's end, Dozier scored the second most runs in a season (112) in Minnesota's history since

Chuck Knoblauch Edward Charles Knoblauch (; born July 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 through 2002, for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. He played ...

tallied 117 runs in 1997. On defense, he led American League second basemen in errors (15) and assists (475). Dozier was selected as a roster replacement for José Bautista in the

2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 86th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The game was played at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday, July 14. It was televised nationally on Fox. The Americ ...

after coming in second to Mike Moustakas in the

All-Star Final Vote The All-Star Final Vote was an annual Internet and text message ballot by Major League Baseball (MLB) fans to elect the final player for each team that participates in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, after all other selections were made ...

. Entering the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter, Dozier cracked a solo home run off 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) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

Mark Melancon Mark David Melancon ( ; born March 28, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pira ...

to become the 16th player to homer in his first All-Star Game at-bat. He finished the season batting .236/.307/.444 with 28 home runs and a career-high 148 strikeouts (9th in the American League), and leading the majors in pull percentage (60.2%). Dozier was named a finalist for the 2015 American League Second Baseman (2B) Rawlings Gold Glove Award, alongside fellow second basemen

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 s ...

Jose Altuve and

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball second baseman, World Series champion, World Baseball Classic champion, Olympian, and advisor in the San Diego Padres fron ...

. On September 12, 2016, Dozier became the first American League second baseman to hit 40 home runs in a season with a 3rd inning shot against Daniel Norris of the

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 ...

. He finished the season with 42 home runs, and again leading the majors in pull percentage (56.4%). Dozier set a new Twins record with a 16-game hitting streak to start off the 2018 season. In the 10th inning of the July 15 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Dozier hit the first walk-off grand slam in the history of

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hosted the 2014 Major Leagu ...

. It was the first time in Major League Baseball history that

extra inning Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

, walk-off grand slams had been hit on consecutive days, following

Xander Bogaerts Xander Jan Bogaerts (born October 1, 1992; ), nicknamed "the X-Man" and "Bogey" or "Bogie", is an Aruban professional baseball shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston ...

' 10th inning slam for the Boston Red Sox the day before. It was Dozier's fourth walk-off home run and sixth walk-off hit at Target Field, both records for the ballpark. He also became only the second player (after Eddie Rosario) to have hit multiple grand slams at Target Field. He batted .227/.307/.405 with 16 home runs in 410 at bats in 2018 for the Twins.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 31, 2018, Dozier was traded to the

in exchange for Logan Forsythe and minor leaguers Devin Smeltzer and Luke Raley. In 47 games with the Dodgers he hit only .182/.300/.350 with 5 homers and 20 RBIs in 143 at bats, and was relegated to pinch-hitting duties in the playoffs. Dozier (46588090225) (cropped)

Washington Nationals

On January 13, 2019, Dozier signed a one-year, $9 million contract with the

. In 2019, he batted .238/.340/.430 with 20 home runs and 50 RBIs. Defensively, he had a -5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the lowest in the National League among second basemen. The Nationals finished the season with a 93–69 record, clinching a wild card spot. They went on to win the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

over the Astros, their first championship in franchise history.

San Diego Padres

On February 23, 2020, Dozier signed a minor league contract with the

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 penna ...

, with an invitation to spring training. Dozier was released by the Padres organization on July 11, 2020.

New York Mets

On July 22, 2020, Dozier signed a minor league deal with the

. On July 30, the Mets selected Dozier's contract to the 40-man roster. He was designated for assignment August 16. On August 23, the Mets officially released Dozier. Dozier announced his retirement from professional baseball on February 18, 2021.

Personal life

Dozier is married to Renee Dozier. They reside in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 census, with the populat ...

. Dozier is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

. Dozier has spoken about his faith saying, "I'm a Christian just playing baseball on the side. That's what I stand for...". In November 2013, Dozier went with the mission group ''Amigos for Christ'' to Nicaragua for a week. While on the trip, Dozier helped dig a new clean water system for a small community and helped deliver a cow and a pig to the community for food.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dozier, Brian 1987 births Living people American League All-Stars People from Tupelo, Mississippi Major League Baseball shortstops Minnesota Twins players Los Angeles Dodgers players Washington Nationals players New York Mets players Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball players Gold Glove Award winners Elizabethton Twins players Gulf Coast Twins players Beloit Snappers players Fort Myers Miracle players New Britain Rock Cats players Rochester Red Wings players Mesa Solar Sox players Bravos de Margarita players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela