John Bale #49

John Robert Bale and his wife, Genevieve, reside in Tampa, Fla., with their daughters, Madison and Olivia, and son, Zachary...Genevieve's brother is NHL superstar Vincent LeCavalier...Participated in the 2008 and 2009 Royals FanFest...Graduated from Crestview (Fla.) High...was an All-State selection in baseball his senior season after going 11-2 with a 0.38 ERA...Attended Jefferson Davis Community College in Alabama where he was named All-Division...Was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 12th round of the 1994 June Free Agent Draft, but did not sign...Attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he went 9-8 with a 4.01 ERA his junior year.

2010

Saw action in 30 games with Hiroshima in the Japanese Baseball League during the 2010 season.

2009

Opened the 2009 season on Kansas City's disabled list after undergoing surgery for hyperthyroidism...Assigned to Double A Northwest Arkansas by the Royals for an injury rehabilitation assignment on May 5 -- saw action in six games with Northwest Arkansas before his injury rehabilitation assignment was transferred to Triple A Omaha on May 23...did not appear in a game with Omaha before the Royals recalled his injury rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the disabled list on May 24...Registered his first major league save on June 24 at Houston...Unconditionally released by the Royals on December 10.

2008

Made the Opening Day roster for Kansas City, beginning the year in the Royals rotation...Made 3 starts before being placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 16 with left shoulder fatigue...while rehabbing the shoulder, fractured his left hand...was transferred to the 60-day D.L. on June 24...Made a total of 9 rehab appearances for Northwest Arkansas (AA) and Omaha (AAA) before being returned from his assignment on August 31...was reinstated from the 60-day D.L. on September 2...Appeared in 10 games in September, all in relief...did not allow a hit in his fi nal 7 outings (7.1 IP)...Was 1 of 9 pitchers in baseball to not allow an earned run in the month of September (min. 10 IP), while his .108 opponent batting average was tied for the third-best in baseball (min. 10 IP)...Retired 21 straight batters from September 9 until a Joe Mauer walk in his fi nal appearance of the season on September 27.

2007

Made a career-high 26 appearances for the Royals, going 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA, striking out 42 while walking 17...Had much more success at home than on the road, posting a 3.06 ERA (17.2 IP, 17 H, 6 ER) in 10 outings at Kauffman while recording a 4.84 ERA (22.1 IP, 28 H, 12 ER) in 16 outings away from home...Struggled to a 8.03 ERA (12.1 IP, 20 H, 11 ER) in 7 appearances under the sun, but posted a 2.28 ERA (27.2 IP, 25 H, 7 ER) in 19 outings at night...Spent the fi rst 89 games of the season on the disabled list, initially sidelined in spring training with a tight left shoulder, but during one of his rehab assignments he suffered a strained left gluteal...He made 11 minor league injury rehab appearances, 3 with Wichita (AA) and 8 with Omaha (AAA)...he totaled 16.2 innings allowing 6 earned runs for a combined ERA of 3.24...he was 0-1 with a 2.84 mark for the O-Royals, allowing 4 earnies in 12.2 innings...Was recalled from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the 60-day D.L. on July 14...made his Kansas City debut on July 15 at Cleveland, working 2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing 3 hits while recording 2 strikeouts...Issued 6 walks in 1.1 innings on July 24 vs. New York, a season high for a Royals reliever...Suffered his fi rst loss of the season and fi rst in the Majors since Sept. 8, 2003 vs. Pittsburgh as a member of the Reds on Aug. 4 at New York, allowing 2 runs in 1.2 innings...Earned his fi rst win of the season and first victory in the Majors since Aug. 29, 2003 vs. St. Louis on Aug. 24 vs. Cleveland...tossed 3 shutout innings in relief of Zack Greinke, outdueling C.C. Sabathia in the 2-1 win...Whiffed 7 New York Yankees in 3.2 innings on Sept. 9, marking the most strikeouts by a KC reliever in 2007...allowed 1 run on 2 hits...Following a poor performance at Oakland on Aug. 19 (2 IP, 4 ER), he posted a 1-0 record with a 3.04 ERA in his final 16 appearances of the season...in 23.2 innings, he struck out 30 and walked just 9...He did not allow a run over his final 6 outings, covering 5.1 innings.

2006

Spent his 3rd season pitching for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp...made 30 appearances, including 5 starts, and recorded a 1-2 record with 6 saves and a 2.93 ERA...In 43.0 innings with the Toyo Carp, he allowed 45 hits, 16 runs, 14 earned runs and 5 home runs...he walked just 11 and recorded 46 strikeouts.

2005

Went 2-1 with a 3.19 ERA and recorded 24 saves in his 2nd season with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp...served as the team's closer...In 51 games, tossed 53.2 innings, allowing just 44 hits, 24 runs, 19 earned runs and 16 walks...also struck out 72.

2004

Spent his 1st season in Japan with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp...made 25 starts on the season, compiling an 11-10 record with a 4.21 ERA...In 160.1 innings, allowed 165 hits, 86 runs and 75 earned runs...walked 62 and struck out 173 batters...also recorded a complete game.

2003

Opened the season in the New York Mets organization pitching for Norfolk (AAA)...went 0-1 with a 3.29 ERA (13.2 IP, 11 H, 5 ER) in 8 relief appearances... was released on May 3...Signed by the Cincinnati Reds to a minor league contract on May 8 and was assigned to Louisville (AAA)...went 4-1 with 4 saves and a 3.30 ERA in 26 games (2 starts)...held opponents to a .221 batting average and allowed just 1 home run in 43.2 innings...Had his contract selected by the Reds on July 30 and made his Cincinnati debut on Aug. 3, allowing 1 run on 2 hits in a 2-inning relief appearance vs. San Francisco...Went 1-2 with a 4.47 ERA in 10 games (9 starts) for the Reds down the stretch...Dominated left-handed hitters, allowing just 3 hits in 29 at bats for a .103 opponent batting average...Fared well at home, recording a 1-1 record and a 3.60 ERA (20.0 IP, 8 ER) in 4 appearances...was 0-1 with a 5.13 ERA (26.1 IP, 15 ER) in 6 road games...Did not allow a run in his 1st 2 starts for the Reds...tossed 4.2 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 walks in a no decision at San Diego on Aug. 8...took another no decision on Aug. 13 vs. Arizona despite recording a career-high 6.0 shutout innings on just 3 hits...struck out a career-high 9 against the Diamondbacks...Allowed 2 or less runs in 4 of his 1st 5 starts for the Reds, posting a 1-1 record and a 2.63 ERA (27.1 IP, 8 ER) over that span...Picked up his only win of the season on Aug. 29 vs. St. Louis, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits in 6.0 innings in an 8-5 Reds win.

2002

Acquired by the Mets from the Baltimore Orioles in a two-player deal on April 3, 2002, he was assigned to Norfolk...Did not allow a run over a five-outing stretch April 19-May 14, tossing 11.1 scoreless innings...Sidelined April 26-May 10 with a strained groin...Landed on the disabled list for the remainder of the season on May 28 with a left wrist sprain.

2001

Split the season between the Majors and minors, spending time at Rochester (AAA), Gulf Coast (R) and Baltimore...made a career-high 14 relief appearances for the Orioles and recorded a 1-0 record with a 3.04 ERA... allowed just 18 hits and 9 earned runs in 26.2 innings, holding opponents to a .194 batting average...Went 1-1 with a 2.05 ERA (30.2 IP, 31 H, 7 ER) in 9 games (7 starts) for Rochester and 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA (4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER) in 2 rehab starts with Gulf Coast...Held left-handers to a .138 (4-29) average while right-handers hit .219 (14-64)...Earned his 1st Major League win on April 14 vs. Tampa Bay, pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless relief in his Orioles debut.

2000

Split the season between Syracuse (AAA) and Toronto...made just 2 appearances for the Blue Jays and recorded a 14.73 ERA (3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER)...Was used primarily as a starter in Syracuse, posting a 3-4 record with a 3.19 ERA in 21 games, including 12 starts...in 79.0 innings, allowed just 68 hits, 28 earned runs and 41 walks while striking out 70...Was traded from the Blue Jays to the Orioles in exchange for catcher Jayson Werth on Dec. 11.

1999

Made his Major League debut for the Blue Jays, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits in 2.0 innings on Sept. 30 at Cleveland, his only appearance of the season at the Major League level...Spent a majority of the season at Knoxville (AA), where he went 2-2 with 1 save and a 3.75 ERA in 33 games (4 starts)...recorded 91 strikeouts in 62.1 innings, leading the Southern League with 13.39 strikeouts per 9.0 innings...made 6 appearances (4 starts) for Syracuse, going 0-3 with a 3.97 ERA.