J. R. House

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**J.R. House**
Major League Baseball debut
Baltimore Orioles — No. 59
Catcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
September 27, 2003 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Selected MLB statistics (through 2005)
Hits	2
Average	.200
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2003-2004) Houston Astros (2006) Baltimore Orioles (2007)

James Rodger "J. R." House (born November 11, 1979 in Charleston, West Virginia) played baseball in 2003 and 2004 as a catcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates. House was drafted in the 5th round. He later gave up baseball, focusing instead on his love of football. He enrolled at West Virginia University as a quarterback, but after a single season left choosing to return to minor league baseball. He signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles in the 2006-07 offseason.

A top high school football player at Nitro, J.R. House set a national high school record with 10 touchdown passes in the championship game. He was the West Virginia high school football player of the year and also set a national record with 14,457 career passing yards. House is now third all-time behind Ben Mauk (17,364) and Chris Leak (15,593).[1]

It was unclear if he would decide to play baseball or football professionally; he opted for the former. A very good hitter in the minors, House was plagued by many injuries. In 2001 he was twice on the disabled list with bruised ribs. A year later, he had surgery three times - for an abdominal hernia, a torn muscle and finally Tommy John surgery. The last surgery cost him most of the 2003 season. Additionally, he missed a month in 2000 due to mononucleosis. He was limited to 35 games in 2002 and 41 in 2003.

When healthy, House hit over .300 in Rookie League and short-season class A in 1999. The next year, he batted .348 with 23 homers, splitting the South Atlantic League MVP with Josh Hamilton. After barely playing for two years, House hit .288/.344/.502 at AAA - his career minor league line was .304/.371/.502. House was not deemed a prospect any more by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had high hopes for other young catchers Ryan Doumit, Humberto Cota, Ronny Paulino and Neil Walker. He barely played in his second cup of coffee in the majors. He had rotator cuff surgery on his previously injured right shoulder in 2004 and two weeks later was released by the Pirates.

After his baseball career apparently ended, House enrolled at West Virginia University where he was the third-string quarterback. House spent one year in this role. His 2005 WVU stats: passing, 2 for 4, 38 yards, no TDs or interceptions. 2 rushes for 16 yards, longest 13, no TDs. In the last 30 years, Josh Booty is believed to be the only other player to have played college football after MLB.

Deciding to return to baseball in 2006, J.R. signed with the Houston Astros. Assigned to their Corpus Christi Hooks Class AA minor league team, he had two hitting streaks of over 15 games in the first two months of the year and by June 3 was leading the Texas League in batting average, apparently not having suffered any setback by missing a season.

Soon thereafter, House moved up to the AAA Round Rock Express. On August 21, 2006 he played his last game with Round Rock to be called up to play with the Astros. The next night, House debuted for the Astros against the Cincinnati Reds.

On November 14, 2006, House was signed by the Baltimore Orioles. [2]