Eli Whiteside

Eli Whiteside
Whiteside in May 2010
Texas Rangers
Catcher
Born: (1979-10-22) October 22, 1979 (age 33) New Albany, Mississippi
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 5, 2005 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics (through 2012 season)
Batting average	.215
Home runs	10
Runs batted in	43
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (2005-2007) Minnesota Twins (2008) San Francisco Giants (2009–2012)
Career highlights and awards
2× World Series champion (2010, 2012)

Dustin Eli Whiteside (born October 22, 1979) is an American Major League Baseball catcher for the Texas Rangers.

Professional career [edit]

Baltimore Orioles (2005-2007) [edit]

Whiteside was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the 2001 MLB Draft. On July 4, 2005, Whiteside was called up by the Orioles after Gerónimo Gil was placed on the disabled list.^[1] He made his major league debut on July 5.^[2] Whiteside was also called up in September.^[3] After 2007, he filed for free agency, having played in only nine major league games during his six years with the Orioles.^[4]

Minnesota Twins (2008) [edit]

Before the 2008 season, Whiteside signed a contract with the Minnesota Twins. However, he only played in 8 games with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings before getting released on April 30.^[5]

San Francisco Giants (2009-2012) [edit]

Five days after getting released by the Twins, the San Francisco Giants signed Whiteside. He spent the rest of the year with the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. The next season, he started the year at Fresno again. However, after an elbow injury prevented Pablo Sandoval from catching, the Giants called up Whiteside to be the backup catcher for Bengie Molina on May 24, 2009.^[6] The same day, he played his first major league game in four years (and his first for a National League team). He finished the game with a hit and an RBI in three at-bats.^[7] On July 10, 2009, Bengie Molina was scheduled to catch, but was unable to because his wife was having a baby. Whiteside caught in his place, and Jonathan Sanchez, starting in place of the injured Randy Johnson,^[8] threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.^[9] He hit a grand slam, his first Major League home run, against Brian Moehler of the Houston Astros in a 10–6 Giants victory on August 5, 2009.^[10] He finished the year with 29 hits in 49 games (126 at-bats) and 2 home runs. In 2010, for the first time in his career, Whiteside made an MLB team (the Giants) out of spring training.^[11] He finished the regular season with a .238 batting average, appearing in 73 games, and was on the team's World Series roster, although he did not appear in any games but still got his first career championship title after the Giants won the series against the Texas Rangers.^[12][13]

In 2011, Whiteside again began the year as the backup catcher. However, following Buster Posey's season-ending leg injury on May 25, 2011, he moved into a more prominent role, splitting starting time with Chris Stewart. He was non tendered after the season and briefly became a free agent before being re-signed to a one-year deal with the Giants.

On July 18, 2012, Whiteside was called up from Fresno when Héctor Sánchez was placed on the disabled list.^[14] He was then recalled when the Giants made the postseason to be the third-string catcher and the team won the World Series in a 4-game sweep against the Tigers.

New York Yankees [edit]

Whiteside was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees on November 5, 2012. Whiteside and the Yankees agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth $625,000 in the Major Leagues and $200,000 in the Minors.^[15] On November 28, the Yankees designated Whiteside for assignment to make room for Andy Pettitte.^[16]

Texas Rangers [edit]

On December 3, 2012, he was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.^[16] Nine days later he was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.^[17] He was designated for assignment by the Rangers on January 3, 2013 and removed from the 40 man roster.^[18] Whiteside cleared waivers and was assigned to the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate Round Rock Express.^[19] He attended 2013 Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.

Personal life [edit]

Whiteside married his high school sweetheart, Amy, in 2004. The two welcomed their first child, Whittington "Whit" Jackson Whiteside, in February 2010. Whiteside is easily recognized by his completely gray hair, which he said began to gray when he was in high school.^[5]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

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