Gerald Laird

Quick Facts

Full Name	Gerald Laird
Occupation	Baseball Player
Date Of Birth	Nov 13, 1979(1979-11-13)
Age	45
Birthplace	Westminster
Country	United States
Birth City	California
Horoscope	Scorpio

Gerald Laird Biography

Gerald Laird is one of the most popular and richest Baseball Player who was born on November 13, 1979 in Westminster, California, United States. Gerald Lee Laird III (born on November 13, 1979) is an American former professional baseball catcher, and the head coach for the Connecticut Tigers. He graduated from La Quinta High School in 1998 and also played the college game in Cypress College. The place he was raised was Westminster, California and made his MLB debut in 2003 for the Texas Rangers. He was a part of Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Laird took the Rangers starting catching position in the spring of 2004 following his participation in the Einar Diaz trade, however after breaking his thumb after a collision at home plate in May, he was placed being placed on the injured list, and then was replaced as the starting catcher by Rod Barajas. After spending the bulk of the season in Triple-A and then being called back as a an extra catcher with the Rangers in the year 2006. He was highly regarded in the majors due to his defensive ability despite having his career MLB Batting Average of just .234.. He said San Diego Padres 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 [in a trade].” In the 78 games he played in 2006, he batted an improvement of .296 and hit seven homers. He was able to earn the position of the catcher who started the season in 2007. The new Ranger Manager Ron Washington took a special interest in his player during the spring season “I just want him to concentrate on making this pitching staff better and helping them to believe in him.” However, that season his fielding rate of all catchers in the major leagues (.984) and also the lowest range factor of all the full-time AL catchers (6.83). To compensate for his low fielding percentage, he was able to throw at 40% or more of his attempted base stealers, which put second to Seattle Mariners’ Kenji Johjima in 2007. He also had the second highest number of double plays of all MLB catchers, despite having the most ineffective fielding opportunities.

On November 18, 2011, the Detroit Tigers welcomed Laird back with a one-year contract for the 2012 season as backup catcher to Alex Avila 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 to win their second consecutive AL Central Division title, edge the powerful young upstart Oakland Athletics 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 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 4–0, and became a free agent on October 29.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Laird to a one-year contract for the 2011 season, where he won his first World Series ring as backup catcher to All-Star Yadier Molina.

He was a part of the Rangers in 2003’s the spring season, however he was transferred to Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks. The parent club recalls him on April 30, when the catcher Todd Greene went on the disabled list. He made his first major league appearance on the same day. However, when Greene returned from the disabled list following about 15 days Laird returned to Oklahoma. The Rangers were able to recall him in September, when their rosters increased, and he was at the major league club throughout the season. While playing for two seasons with Texas He played only 19 games , and averaged .273 but at the conclusion of the year , he was picked to be part of in the USA Baseball squad.

Gerald Laird Net Worth

Gerald Laird is one of the richest Baseball Player from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Gerald Laird 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Laird initially was a student at Rancho Alamitos High School, and later was a graduate of La Quinta High School in Westminster, California. He was picked to be drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the draft in 1998 however, they opted to wait for more cash. The A’s resisted, Laird enrolled in Cypress College and led the football team into the semi-finals. At the end of June, Oakland along with Laird negotiated the terms of a new contract. In his debut minor league season in 1999 in which He played 60 games for the low-A Southern Oregon Timberjacks and hit .285. He split the 2000 season between the rookie level Arizona League Athletics and High-A Visalia Oaks, but a fractured wrist restricted its playing opportunities. In the first season of 2001, he was regarded as the top prospect, until he fell off down to .255 in his Modesto A’s.

Just prior to the 2002 season Oakland made a trade of Laird with the Texas Rangers along with outfielder Ryan Ludwick, Jason Hart and Mario Ramos, for slugging first baseman Carlos Pena and southpaw relief pitcher Mike Venafro. Texas has assigned Laird his Double-A Tulsa Drillers, where his excellent defensive performance and increased batsman’s average (.276) received praises.

On December 8, 2008, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for two minor league 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.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Gerald Laird height Not available right now. Gerald weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Gerald Laird Dating?

According to our records, Gerald Laird married to Kelly Laird. As of December 1, 2023, Gerald Laird’s is not dating anyone.

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Facts & Trivia

Gerald Ranked on the list of most popular Baseball Player. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Gerald Laird celebrates birthday on November 13 of every year.