Is a 1993 graduate of Vianney High School in St. Louis,
where he captained the baseball and soccer teams...attended
Jefferson (Mo.) Junior College, earning All-America honors...was
involved with the Teammates for Kids Foundation, which in
October 2004 donated $13,000 to support the Chicago Inner
City Little League Program...during the 2005 season, delivered
baby blankets to a Chicago area hospital...also visited the opening
of brand-new baseball fields in Utica, Ill. that were destroyed by
a tornado in 2004...attended the kickoff of the 2005 Training
Academy Summer Camps at Brookfield Zoo...resides in St.
Louis with his wife, Jennifer, and son, Drew.
2007
Was signed to a minor league contract by Cleveland late in spring training (3/27) and appeared in eight games for their
Double-A affiliate in Akron while attempting to come back from right rotator cuff surgery that he had in August, 2006.
Made eight appearances (three starts) for Akron from 6/9-7/8 and allowed six runs in 8.0 innings (6.75 ERA) while walking five
and fanning 10.
2005
Established a career high in wins and ERA, going 7-1 with a 2.00 ERA (15 ER/67.1 IP) in 68 appearances ... also matched his career best in appearances (2002) ... ranked among American League relief leaders in multiple categories (see box at right) ... his 23 holds were the third-highest single-season total in franchise history ... opponents hit .181, down from .262 last season ... was one of seven pitchers in the major leagues to hold both right-handers and lefties below a .200 average ... left-handers batted just .182 (14-77) after hitting .351
(26-74) in 2004 ... averaged 7.6 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (57 SO) ... was 1-2 in save situations ... earned lone save on 7/18 at Detroit and second with the Sox (also 6/8/04 vs. Philadelphia) ... 56 of his 68 appearances were scoreless ... lasted
more than 1.0 IP on 19 occasions (0.89 ERA) ... went 5-0 with a 1.34 ERA (5 ER/33.2 IP) at home and 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA (10 ER/33.3 IP) on the road ... went a season high 2.0 IP on three occasions and struck out four batters twice (5/16 vs. Texas and 4/17 vs. Seattle) ... four of his six homers were surrendered to lefties ... posted a 1.02 ERA (4 ER/35.1 IP) prior to the All-Star Break, the lowest mark by a Sox reliever since
Juan Agosto's 1.00 mark in 1983 ... his six wins at the time of the Midsummer Classic were the most since Matt Karchner's seven in 1996 ... three of his victories came in interleague play ... owned a 1.77 ERA (4 ER/20.1 IP) in 21 games when pitching with no rest ... first batters hit .232 (13-56) and allowed just 21.6 percent (11-51) of inherited
runners to score ... made 20 straight scoreless outings from 5/29-7/17 (19.2 IP) ... opponents were just 4-28 (.143) with runners in scoring position and two outs ... went 112 appearances without a victory prior to his win on 5/31 vs.
the Angels (4/28/03-5/29/05) ... collected an RBI-single on 6/8/00 at Colorado, his first hit since 7/29/00 vs. the Dodgers ... earned consecutive wins on 6/18-19 vs. the Dodgers ... was charged with only blown save on 7/27 at
Kansas City, allowing a game-tying three run homer to Mike Sweeney in the eighth inning ... suffered only loss on 9/26 at Detroit, serving up a game-ending home run to Curtis Granderson ... made his 300th career appearance on 10/1 at Cleveland ... gave up at least one hit in seven of his last nine outings.
Postseason: Made four postseason appearances, posting a 2.70 ERA (1 ER/3.1 IP) with three holds for the World Champion White Sox ... limited opponents to a .091 (1-11) average ... pitched in three World Series contests ... registered third playoff hold in Game 4 of the Fall Classic at Houston (0 ER/0.2 IP) ... picked up first postseason hold in Game 1 of the World Series, tossing 1.0 scoreless IP ... did not appear in the ALCS ... pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Game 1 of the ALDS vs. Boston.
2004
Appeared in 54 games in his first season with the White Sox ... underwent season-ending emergency
appendectomy on 9/1 at Rush University Medical Center ... his 19 holds ranked 10th in the American League and tied Bob Howry (1998) for the sixth-highest total in Sox history ... averaged 8.4 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (48 SO) ...
opponents batted .261 (52-199) ... right-handers hit .208 (26-125) and lefties .351 (26-74) ... held the opposition to a .226 average and a 1.59 ERA during the day, compared to a .277 average and a 5.77 ERA at night ... posted a 3.07 ERA with a .202 opponents average at home and a 6.14 ERA with a .326 average on the road ... first batters
were 12-50 (.240) ... converted his only save chance on 6/8 vs. Philadelphia ... allowed eight of 30 inherited runners to score (26.7 percent) ... went more than 1.0 IP on 13 occasions and 2.0 IP five times ... was one of three AL
relievers to make at least 40 appearances without earning a win (Oakland's Jim Mecir and Seattle's J.J. Putz) ... all six home runs allowed were solo ... gave up eight runs in 6.1 IP from 4/27-5/22 ... struck out four batters on 6/19 at Montreal (2.0 IP), his most since 6/12/02 vs. San Francisco (also four) ... posted a 0.69 ERA (1 ER/13.0 IP)
in 12 games from 6/21-7/23 ... retired 19 straight batters before allowing a single to the Cubs' Mark Grudzielanek on 7/2 ... suffered the loss on 7/31 at Detroit, issuing a game-ending walk Carlos Guillen in the ninth inning ... gave up a season-high four runs on 8/9 vs. Cleveland (1.1 IP) ... allowed three of his six home runs over final five games.
2003
Ranked second on the Blue Jays with 12 saves and
third with 54 appearances ... began the season in a setup role before taking over as closer in May when Kelvim Escobar was moved to the rotation ... converted six straight save chances from 5/1-18 and nine of 10 from 5/1-31 ... combined to post a
3.75 ERA (10 ER/24.0 IP) in April and May ... ERA jumped to 13.03 (14 ER/9.2 IP) in June ... was placed on the disabled list on 6/29 with a strained right shoulder ... made one relief
appearance at Class AAA Syracuse on 7/22 as part of a rehab assignment and was reinstated on 7/25 ... 11 of his 16 saves came in the first half ... 15 of 18 appearances in the second half were scoreless ... allowed 11 home runs but none over final 19 outings ... stranded 21 of 28 (75.0 percent) inherited runners.
2002
Pitched in 13 games with Philadelphia before being
traded to Toronto on 5/26 in return for pitcher Dan Plesac ... ranked third among AL relievers in opponents average (.186), fourth in holds (25) and runners per 9.0 IP (9.10), fifth in opponents on-base percentage (.258) and hits per 9.0 IP (5.97) and sixth in opponents slugging percentage (.284) ... averaged 9.0 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (57 SO/57.1 IP) ... held right-handers to a .154 (16-104) average ... stranded nine of 10 inherited runners ... made Blue Jays debut on 5/27 vs. Boston ... retired 20 straight hitters from 5/27-6/3 ... allowed one run in 16.0 IP (0.56 ERA) in 12 games from 5/29-6/26 ... earned first win with Toronto on 6/1 at Detroit, retiring all seven batters faced ... earned first career save on 7/24 at Baltimore ... made 13 straight scoreless
outings (13.0 IP) from 8/1-9/7 ... posted a combined 2.10 ERA (6 ER/25.2 IP) in August and September ... 21 of final 23 outings were scoreless ... recorded a hold in nine of last 12 appearances.
2001
Was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a stress reaction in his right elbow on 3/31, two days before
the Phillies season opener ... made seven rehabilitation starts at Class A Clearwater, going 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA,
and was reinstated on 7/6 ... made season debut on 7/7 at Baltimore ... earned first win on 8/28 at the Mets with
2.0 scoreless IP in relief ... both home runs allowed were game winning shots on 8/25 vs. Arizona (Reggie Sanders)
and 9/28 at Florida (Kevin Millar) ... went season-high 3.0 IP on 8/25 vs. Arizona and fanned three batters on three
occasions ... played for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League.
2000
Made 12 appearances (eight starts) with the Phillies ... was 4-3 with a 3.24 ERA (18 ER/50.0 IP) and 43
strikeouts as a starter and 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA (6 ER/9.0 IP) in relief ... averaged 7.6 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (50 SO/
59.0 IP) ... opponents batted .248 (55-222) ... was recalled from Class AAA Scranton on 6/2 ... start on 6/6 vs.
Tampa Bay was his first since 5/13/98 vs. Atlanta ... collected first major-league RBI on 6/12 vs. Florida ... made
four starts before being optioned on 6/23 ... was recalled a second time on 7/28 ... threw 7.0 scoreless IP in start
on 7/29 vs. Los Angeles in combined six-hit shutout ... also recorded first career hit (double) and run scored in that
game ... was optioned again on 8/8 and recalled a final time on 9/1 ... threw career-high 8.0 IP on 9/11 vs. Montreal
... struck out career-high nine in final start on 9/28 at the Cubs.
1999
Was recalled from Class AA Reading on 6/23 and made Phillies debut in relief on 6/27 at the Cubs ... was optioned back to reading on 7/7 after making three appearances ... was recalled a second time on 9/3 ... struck out career-high six in relief in 3.0 IP on 9/5/99 vs. Cincinnati ... earned win on 10/3 vs. Montreal ... played for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League.
1998
Began the season in the Cardinals rotation ... posted a no decision in his major-league debut on 4/2 vs. Los Angeles, allowing one earned run in 5.0 IP in an 8-5 St. Louis win ... compiled a 6.32 ERA (26 ER/37.0 IP) in eight starts and was optioned to Class AAA Memphis.
1997
Was named the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year after combining to go 15-2 with a 2.22 ERA (39 ER/158.0 IP) and 144 strikeouts between Class A Prince William and Class AA Arkansas ... led the organization in wins and strikeouts, ranked third in IP and fifth in opponents average (.216) ... 2.22 ERA was best in the organization among starters ... was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year at Prince William after winning 11 of 12 decisions ... led the CL in ERA (2.24), winning percentage (.917), opponents average (.203) and runners per 9.0 IP (9.12) ... was promoted to Arkansas in mid-July ... struck out 10 and retired first 15 batters on 8/6 vs. Tulsa.
1996
Ranked third in the Cardinals system with 14 wins, a 2.59 ERA, 151 strikeouts and a .199 opponents
average in his pro debut at Class A Peoria ... won six straight decisions from 4/21-5/27.
