Delmon Young

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**Delmon Young**
Major League Baseball debut
Tampa Bay Devil Rays — No. 26
Right Fielder
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
August 29, 2006 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
AVG	.309
HR	4
RBI	14

Delmon Damarcus Young, (born September 14, 1985 in Montgomery, Alabama), the younger brother of Dmitri Young, is an outfielder on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and is arguably the top hitting prospect in baseball as of the end of the 2005 minor-league baseball season. In 84 games with Double-A Montgomery, Young hit .336 with 20 home runs, 71 runs batted in and an OPS of .986 in 2005. Young was promoted to Class AAA Durham on July 15, 2005, where he batted .285 with six home runs and 28 RBI in 52 games. The Devil Rays did not call him up in September because they did not want to start his major-league service time with a partial season, but Devil Rays management has made it clear that he will compete for a major-league job during spring training in 2006.

When Young was made the first overall pick in the 2003 MLB draft, he and his brother became the first siblings to be picked within the top five choices (Dmitri was drafted fourth overall in 1991 by St. Louis). In 2005 however, their record as the top drafted siblings was broken when Justin Upton was drafted first overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks after B.J. Upton was taken second by the Devil Rays in 2003.

Young graduated from Adolfo Camarillo High School in 2003, located in Camarillo, CA.

[edit] 2006 Season

On April 26, 2006, while playing for the Durham Bulls (AAA - Tampa Bay), Young was ejected from a game versus the Pawtucket Red Sox. After glaring at the home plate umpire following a called third strike, Young was ejected as he stepped from the batters box. The center field pitchers camera recorded that Young then turned and threw his bat at the umpire. The bat flew end over end and struck the umpire in the chest and arm. The umpire was not injured.

The next day, Young issued an apology through his agent, claiming that he had not intended for the bat to actually strike the umpire, but acknowledging that it was unacceptable to have thrown the bat at all. The International League (AAA) initially suspended Young indefinitely, then announced on May 9, 2006 he would be suspended for 50 games, without pay, retroactive to the day of the incident. Young had the option to appeal the suspension, but chose not to. The suspension ended on June 19, 2006.

This altercation was not the first he had had with an umpire during a game. In 2005, while playing for the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay), Young received a three-game suspension for bumping an umpire.

On August 28, 2006, The Devil Rays called up Young from Durham to their major league team. His move was prompted by the season ending surgery of Jonny Gomes. Thirty-one games remain of the 2006 Devil Rays season from the day he was promoted. His first game at the major league level was against the Chicago White Sox. After striking out on his second at bat, Young hit a two run home run for his first major league hit.