Chris Mears

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Chris Mears bigraphy, stories - Canadian baseball player

Chris Mears : biography

January 20, 1978 –

Christopher Peter Mears (born January 20, 1978) is a retired Canadian baseball pitcher who is currently an amateur scout for the Boston Red Sox currently assigned to the midwestern United States.

Playing career

Mears was a 5th round selection of the Seattle Mariners in the 1996 amateur draft. Chris spent 7 seasons in the Mariners farm system, making it as far as the teams AA club. Mears was released by Seattle following the season. Shortly thereafter, Mears signed with the Detroit Tigers opening the season with Detroit’s class AAA team, the Toledo Mud Hens. He spent the first two months of the season in Toledo before having his contract purchased by the Tigers on June 29.

Mears spent his first nine weeks of major league service in the Detroit bullpen, pitching fairly effectively and posting 5 saves. At the beginning of September, he was placed in Detroit’s starting rotation, but this was short-lived. The 2003 Tigers, who finished with the worst record in baseball since the 1962 New York Mets, were desperate for reliable pitching, but Mears proved wholly inadequate as a starter, never pitching more than 4.1 innings per outing and racking up an ERA of over 10. After 3 starts, he spent the remainder of the 2003 season in the Tigers bullpen. His season total of 5 saves tied him for the team lead with Franklyn Germán.

Mears was returned to the minor leagues by Detroit for the season, before being released at season’s end. He was part of Team Canada in the 2004 Summer Olympics, who finished in fourth place. Mears split between the AA affiliate of the St Louis Cardinals and the AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves before retiring following the 2005 season.