David Aardsma

David Aardsma
Aardsma pitching for the Mariners
Seattle Mariners — No. 53
Relief pitcher
Born: December 27, 1981 (1981-12-27) (age 29) Denver, Colorado
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 6, 2004 for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics (through 2010 season)
Win–loss record	13–15
Earned run average	4.20
Strikeouts	268
Saves	69
Teams
San Francisco Giants (2004) Chicago Cubs (2006) Chicago White Sox (2007) Boston Red Sox (2008) Seattle Mariners (2009–2010)

David Allan Aardsma (pronounced /ˈɑrdzmə/; born December 27, 1981) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. He is the first player alphabetically in the list of all-time Major League Baseball players, having displaced Hank Aaron upon his MLB debut.

Amateur career

High School

Aardsma was born in Denver, Colorado, and attended Cherry Creek High School in Colorado, which was also the high school of Major Leaguers Josh Bard, John Burke, Brad Lidge, Darnell McDonald, and Donzell McDonald. He graduated from Cherry Creek High School in 2000.

College

He attended Penn State in his freshman year of college. He transferred to Rice University in 2001, where he remained for the rest of his college tenure. At Rice, Aardsma became a dominant closer, where he set school single-season and career saves records in 2002-2003. In the 2003 College World Series, Aardsma earned two wins and a save as the Owls won their first national championship.

In 2002, Aardsma was a Summer League First-Team All-American.

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

The right-hander was drafted in the 1st round (22nd overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Francisco Giants. He went to the San Jose Giants (Single-A), and played brilliantly. He posted a 1.96 ERA while striking out 28 in about 18 innings. He made the major-league roster in 2004, skipping Double-A and Triple-A, and made his debut in the season's second game. In his major league debut, in front of friends and family at Minute Maid Park, he pitched two innings, allowing three hits and walking one, to earn his first MLB win. In his first 6 appearances, he had a 1.80 ERA; unfortunately his success did not last as his ERA ballooned to 6.75 after 11 games. After giving up two runs in one inning on April 20 - his final major-league appearance that year, he was sent down to Fresno, the Giants Triple-A team, the next day.

Aardsma's route through professional baseball has been somewhat unique, given that after making the leap from Single-A to the Giants, he was demoted to Triple-A and then subsequently started the 2005 season in Double-A with the Norwich Navigators.

Chicago Cubs

Along with pitcher Jerome Williams, Aardsma was traded to the Chicago Cubs for veteran pitcher LaTroy Hawkins on May 28, 2005. He spent the season in the minor leagues before returning to the big leagues with the Cubs in 2006, posting a 3-0 record and 4.08 ERA in 45 relief appearances, finishing nine games. Aardsma was especially effective against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .190 (12-for-63) batting average against.

Chicago White Sox

After a solid 2006 season with the Cubs, Aardsma, along with minor leaguer Carlos Vásquez, was sent across town to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for reliever Neal Cotts. Aardsma started the 2007 season strong. In April, he posted a 1.72 ERA while recording 23 strikeouts in only 15.2 innings pitched; he struck out at least one batter in each of his first 13 appearances of the season.^[1] On April 4, Aardsma matched a career high with five strikeouts against the Cleveland Indians. On April 11, as the White Sox visited the Oakland Athletics, he recorded his first American League win. In May, however, troubles mounted and Aardsma finished the month with an ERA of 4.73 and an ERA of 9.00 for the month.

Following June 2, Aardsma was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. He was recalled on June 19, but continued to struggle in his last appearances with the team.

Boston Red Sox

Aardsma pitching for the Boston Red Sox in 2008.

On January 28, 2008, the Boston Red Sox acquired Aardsma from the White Sox for pitching prospects Willy Mota and Miguel Socolovich.

Seattle Mariners

Less than a year after joining the Red Sox, Aardsma was traded to the Seattle Mariners on January 20, 2009, for minor league pitcher Fabian Williamson.^[2]

On April 10, Aardsma recorded the first save of his career, pitching 2 innings of relief against the Oakland Athletics. This save also marked the first MLB win for Chris Jakubauskas.

The Mariners gave Aardsma a chance to close game behind Brandon Morrow. Afterward, he became the team's official closer.^[3]

Aardsma was a projected pick for the All-Star game, but failed to make the starting nor the reserve roster.^[4]

Aardsma followed an outstanding 2009 season with an excellent 2010. Converting 31 of 35 save opportunities, finished the year 19-for-20 in saves with a 1.80 ERA from June 13 to Sept. 19.

Personal life

Aardsma is of Dutch descent, and all of David's great grandparents came from the Netherlands. Because of this, he was slated to play for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, but was ruled ineligible and did not play.^[5] Of all baseball players in history, 'Aardsma' ranks first alphabetically. Aardsma's sister is American actress and beauty pageant contestant Amanda Aardsma. During the 2007 season, Aardsma was affectionately given the nickname "Ol' Crazy Eyes" by White Sox fans and teammates.^[6][7]

David and his wife Andrea expected a baby boy in June 2010.^[8]

References

1. ^ redsox.com.
2. ^ Mariners acquire Aardsma
3. ^ Street, Jim. Mariners closer Morrow lands on DL, Seattle Mariners. Published May 2, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
4. ^ MLB News, Videos, Scores, Standings, Stats, Teams, Players - FOX Sports on MSN
5. ^ Baseball America: WBC "Carpetbaggers" Create Complaints
6. ^ http://www.lifeinthecell.com/?p=1111
7. ^ Thank You
8. ^ Larry Stone | Mariners' David Aardsma ready to handle extra pressure | Seattle Times Newspaper

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Aardsma, David
Alternative names
Short description	Baseball pitcher
Date of birth	December 27, 1981
Place of birth	Denver, Colorado
Date of death
Place of death