Lyle Overbay

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Lyle Overbay bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Lyle Overbay : biography

January 28, 1977 –

Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in MLB since 2001 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Atlanta Braves.

Professional Baseball Career

Draft and Minors

Overbay was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 MLB draft. While playing in the farm system, he was named Diamondbacks minor league player of the year.

Arizona Diamondbacks (2001-2003)

Overbay made his Major League debut on September 19, 2001. Overbay appeared in 2 games getting one hit out of 2 plate appearances during his brief stint in the majors in 2001. He was also part of the Diamondbacks’ postseason roster to serve as a backup first baseman and eventually won the World Series over the Yankees.

During the 2002 season, Overbay played mostly in the minors and only played in 10 games in the majors.

Overbay first played with the Diamondbacks as the full-time first baseman in 2003. He played in 86 games, batting .276 with 28 RBI and 4 home runs. He was sent down to Triple-A Tucson in June, but was called up in September to be part of the 40-man roster expansion. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers during the off-season.

Milwaukee Brewers (2004–2005)

Overbay was acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers on December 1, 2003, in a trade that sent Richie Sexson and Shane Nance to Arizona for Overbay, Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey, Chris Capuano, Chad Moeller, and Jorge de la Rosa. During the 2004 season, Overbay batted .301 with 16 home runs, 87 RBI, and a major league-leading 53 doubles.

In 2005, he also played well with the Brewers. He hit a then career high 19 home runs, surpassing his total of 16. On July 23, he had a career high 6 RBI versus the Cincinnati Reds, hitting two home runs, including a grand slam. This feat was also the most in a season by a Brewer. He played very well against the Reds, batting .431 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI. He was traded to the Blue Jays in the off-season. He was a fan favorite in Milwaukee. When Overbay stepped up to plate, fans would do the "O chant." Fans would raise their hands over their heads in an "O" symbol – some brought cardboard cut outs of the letter "O" – and would chant a prolonged "O" sound to honor Overbay. Overbay said of the chant, "The "O" chant doesn’t break my concentration. Sometimes it gets me too pumped up because I want to come through and give the fans something to cheer about, instead of just chanting. But overall, I think it’s cool that I get that treatment from Brewers fans."

Toronto Blue Jays (2006–2010)

On December 7, 2005, Overbay was traded from the Brewers along with pitching prospect Ty Taubenheim to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for outfielder Gabe Gross and pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Jackson. Although, the trade was acknowledged as a needed acquisition for the Blue Jays,Jeff Blair "" The Globe and Mail 5/11/2007 Overbay has not had the statistical impact hoped for, at least beyond 2006. In 2007 to 2008, Overbay statistically trailed Bush in the Sabermetric categories Wins above replacement player and Value over replacement player.

On July 5, 2006, Overbay was named American League Player of the Week after hitting .423 and hitting 4 HR during the week of June 26 to July 2, 2006.

In 2006, he had a career season. He batted .312 with 22 home runs, 92 RBI and 181 hits, which were all career highs. He had 46 doubles, which was tenth among the major leagues. On June 4, 2007, Overbay was hit by a pitch in the 6th inning in a game against the Chicago White Sox. The pitch was a high and inside fastball that ran in and hit Lyle in the hand, breaking 3 bones in his hand. He was on the Disabled List until July 13, 2007, after which he rejoined the Blue Jays after the All-Star break. Since his return, he has struggled at the plate, especially with hitting for power.