Damion Easley #9

Jacinto Damion (Damion) Easley graduated from Lakewood (Calif.) High School in 1987...As a senior, his team won the Division 4-A baseball championship...Was named to the All-State, All-City and All-Conference teams...Played baseball at Long Beach (Calif.) City College in 1987 and 1988...Was named to the All-South Coast Community College Conference and All-Southern California first teams...In addition, he was his team's Most Valuable Player and a second-team All-State selection.

2007

Placed on the 15-Day Disabled List on August 19th with a Grade 3 sprain of his left ankle...Did not play again the rest of the year...Injured the ankle advancing to second base on August 18th at Washington...X-Rays were taken at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC...Underwent an MRI at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan on August 20th...Had reached base safely in his last seven games before being placed on the Disabled List...Batted .371 (33-89) with six home runs and 16 RBI against lefthanders...Hit .349 (15-43) with three home runs and 16 RBI with runners in scoring position...Constructed a .349 (15-43) batting average in 21 games after the All-Star break...Hit safely in 10 of his last 15 games with an at-bat before going on the Disabled List...Was 15-41 (.366) with seven runs scored, a double, two home runs and six RBI in those games...Had 10 RBI in his last 14 starts...Cracked his 10th home run on August 17th at Washington (Matt Chico)...The 10 blasts are the most since he swatted 11 home runs in 2001 with Detroit...Five of his 10 home runs either tied the game or gave the Mets the lead...Made his first start at first base with the Mets on August 17th at Washington...Also started at first base on August 18th at Washington...Has played 23 career games at first...Collected his second career inside the park home run, August 2nd at Milwaukee (Chris Capuano)...Also had an inside the park home run, May 11, 2001, Detroit vs. Anaheim (Ramon Ortiz) ...It was the Mets' first inside-the-park home run since Jose Reyes' inside-the-park home run on September 7, 2006 vs. the Dodgers (Brad Penny)...Was the second oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run for the Mets...The oldest was Gil Hodges at age 38 on May 16, 1962 vs. the Cubs at the Polo Grounds...Placed on the Bereavement List on July 17th...Reinstated on July 24th...Hit his fifth home run in his 49th at-bat...Only five other players in club history reached five home runs in as few at-bats as Easley: Ron Swoboda (32), Tony Clark (35), Carlos Delgado (47), Jim Hickman (48) and Rico Brogna (49)...Hit a game-winning three-run home run on May 3rd at Arizona in the top of the ninth off Jose Valverde...His home run put the Mets ahead 6-4 in a game they would go on to win, 9-4...Became the fifth Met whose first two hits for the team were home runs...The others were Duke Snider (1963), Rich Becker (1998) and Eric Valent (2004) while Kevin McReynolds' first three hits were home runs in 1987...Recorded the fourth pinch-hit home run of his career, April 24th vs. Colorado (Brian Fuentes)...That home run came in the bottom of the 10th and sent the game into extra innings...The Mets would win, 2-1, in 12 innings...Became the Mets 135th third baseman in club history when he played third on April 19th at Florida...Appeared in 39 games (36 starts) at second base, two games (two starts) at first, two games (no starts) at third, three games (three starts) in leftfield and six games (five starts) in rightfield.

2006

Performed in three games at first base, nine games at second base (five starts), 20 games at third base (14 starts), 27 games at shortstop (24 starts) and one start in right field, April 14 vs. Houston...On June 3, in the night portion of a day/night doubleheader at Atlanta, he went 4-5 with three home runs and a career-best seven RBI...Became the oldest player in Major League history to have four or more hits, three or more home runs and seven or more RBIs in a game...The next day, June 4 against the Braves, he went 2-4 with another home run and three RBI...In the two games combined, was 6-9 with four home runs and 10 RBIs...On the year, he had six games with two hits; one game with three hits, Sept. 11 vs. Washington; and the one contest with four hits...Scored three runs at Colorado on April 6 and at Washington on Sept. 2.

2005

Suffered a severe right ankle sprain on Sept. 16 vs. Philadelphia, and was lost for the rest of the season. Before rolling his ankle on the outfield grass at Dolphins Stadium, Easley started 12 straight games at shortstop, batting .308 (12-for-39) with three RBIs. Appeared in 46 games at second, 30 games at shortstop and 10 games at third base. Connected for nine home runs for the second straight season.

2004

Appeared in 98 games with the Marlins, making 45 starts and 32 pinch-hit appearances...it .238 with 20 doubles, one triple, nine homers and 43 RBI...the games played, batting average, doubles, homers and RBI are each his best single-season marks since 2001 with Detroit...Played a career-high five positions on the season: 25 games (15 starts) at second base, 18 games (16 starts) at first base, 15 games (five starts) at shortstop, six games (five starts) at third base and five games (four starts) in right field...prior to 2004, saw action at 2B, 3B, SS and CF (four positions) in 1996 with California and Detroit...hit .385 with six homers and 15 RBI at second base, .133 with three RBI at first base, .286 with four RBI at shortstop, .133 with three RBI at third base and .333 with one homer and eight RBI as a right fielder...went 2x32, HR, 5 RBI as a pinch-hitter...Among Marlins with less than 250 at-bats in a season, ranks third on the Club's list in home runs, trails only Gary Sheffield (16 in 213 AB in 1995 and 10 in 236 AB in 1993)...ranks second on that same list in doubles (20), behind Todd Hollandsworth (23 in 228 AB in 2003)...is second to Sheffield in RBI on the list (Sheffield had 46 in 1995)...Began the season by hitting .371 in his first 17 games, collecting 13 hits in 35 at-bats...included his first of three season-high three-hit games, on May 1 at San Francisco...also had three-hit games on July 7 vs. Pittsburgh and July 21 at Philadelphia...hit his first home run as a Marlin in his second official at-bat, off Kevin Millwood in the fifth inning...Posted five contests with three or more RBI, including a season-high four RBI on September 20 vs. Chicago (NL)...also had three RBI on June 5 at New York (NL), June 8 at Cleveland, September 2 at New York (NL) and September 15 vs. Montreal...his four-RBI game in September was his most RBI in a game since he also had four RBI on July 19, 2001 vs New York (AL)...Had 11 RBI over an eight-game span, from June 4-13, after collecting only two RBI in his first 27 games...added seven RBI over a six-game stretch, June 26-July 7...had seven RBI over three consecutive games, August 12-15, and 14 RBI in his last 21 games...Overall, made 48 starts with Florida, including three as DH (June 8 at Cleveland, June 11 at Detroit and June 26 at Tampa Bay)...hit safely in 26 of his starts, batting .250 (43x172) in a starting role...was 4x11, HR, 5 RBI in his three DH games...Collected his first pinch hit on June 5 at New York (NL), his second career pinch-hit homer, a three-run shot in the seventh inning off LHP Mike Stanton...ended an 0x9, BB, HBP start to his Marlins PH career...after going 0x12, BB in his next 13 pinch roles, collected a PH double on August 15 at Milwaukee...ended the season hitless in his final eight pinch hit opportunities...Went 2x3 on June 27 at Tampa Bay, scoring a career-high three runs...marked his first three-run game since August 8, 2001 at Texas...Played his first career game at first base in a relief role on May 25 at Cincinnati...made his first start at first base on June 6 at New York (NL).

2003

Hit .187 (20x107) with one homer and seven RBI in 35 games with Tampa Bay... signed by the Rays as a free agent on April 2 after being released by Detroit on March 28... released by Tampa Bay on June 4...Made 28 starts for Tampa Bay, including 22 at third base, three at second base and three as the team's designated hitter... his starts at third base were his first since 1996...Started 16 of the Rays first 18 games before bruising his right kneecap and quadriceps in an April 23 collision at second base with Toronto's Carlos Delgado... started 12 of the Rays next 26 games...Hit in three of his first four games with the Rays, including 4x5 in his third game: April 8 vs. Baltimore...Hit his lone home run on April 19 at Camden Yards on April 19 off the Orioles' Willis Roberts...Collected a season-best three RBI on May 30 vs. Anaheim, when he went 3x4... overall, went 5x11 in his final three games with the Rays.

2002

Injuries limited his campaign to just 85 games...Sidelined during the season with a trunk strain and pulled left oblique muscle...Collected his 1,000th career hit on April 3rd at Tampa Bay,a single off Jesus Colome...Hit by a pitch three times on July 16th vs. Boston, tying a Detroit record held by himself (May 31, 1999) and Bill Freehan (Aug. 16, 1968).

2001

Played in a career-best 154 games and had a career-high seven triples...Hit for the cycle on June 8th vs. Milwaukee...Became the first Tiger since Travis Fryman (July 28,1993) to accomplish the feat...Had a career-high six hits on August 8th at Texas...Was only the third Detroit player to collect six hits in a game and the first since Ty Cobb on May 25, 1925.

2000

Set a Detroit team record with a 99-game errorless streak...The streak was broken on July 21st vs. Kansas City...Placed on the Disabled List on April 10th with a strained right rib cage...Landed on the Disabled List again from May 9th-June 2nd with a hairline fracture in his right wrist...Finished the season with a .990 fielding mark, tops among American League second basemen.

1999

Became the first Tigers second baseman in franchise history to hit 20 or more home runs in three straight seasons...Ranked second among AL second basemen and was fifth in the majors with a .989 fielding percentage...Tied an AL and Tigers record when he was hit by a pitch three times on May 31st at Boston.

1998

Earned his first career All-Star selection...Set career highs in most offensive categories: average, home runs, RBI and doubles...Won the Silver Slugger Award as the top offensive second baseman in the AL...Led American League second basemen in fielding (.985) and had a 59-game errorless streak from May 14th-July 20th...Matched a career-best with six RBI on May 20th at Minnesota...Had a pair of career-high, 19-game hitting streaks from May 10th-May 30th and from July 6th-July 23rd...Had 34 RBI in May, the most by a Tiger since Rocky Colavito knocked in 38 runs in July 1961...Selected the AL Player of the Week, May 18th-May 24th...Hit his first career grand slam on August 14th against Oakland's Blake Stein.

1997

In his first full season in Detroit, he led the League's second basemen with 21 home runs (also hit one while playing shortstop) and 70 RBI...Stole a career-best four bases on June 28th at Boston.

1996

Injuries limited his season to a combined 49 games with California and Detroit...Began the year with the Angels and was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List prior to Opening Day with a sore right shoulder...Was activated on May 10th...Missed 28 of the Tigers' final 31 games because of a hamstring injury.

1995

Appeared in 114 games with the Angels.

1994

Recorded his first career two-home run game on August 5th vs. the White Sox (off Wilson Alvarez).

1993

Underwent surgery on his right leg, August 24th at Centinela Hospital to correct "Tibial Stress Syndrome"...Dr. Lewis Yocum performed the operation which cut muscle tissue from the lower leg bone.

1992

Made his major league debut on August 13th at Oakland...Recorded his first hit, a single against the A's Kelly Downs on August 16th...Connected his first career home run as a pinch-hitter on September 20th against Minnesota (off Rick Aguilera).