Grant Balfour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays — No. 50 | |
| Relief pitcher | |
| Born: December 30, 1977 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| July 22, 2001 for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2007) |
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| Win-Loss | 6-3 |
| Strikeouts | 104 |
| Earned run average | 5.44 |
| Teams | |
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Grant Robert Balfour (born December 30, 1977 in Sydney, Australia) is a middle reliever for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has previously played for the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, and Milwaukee Brewers. Balfour is well known in some baseball circles for his seemingly ironic name (Ball-Four), considering he is a pitcher.
Balfour spent his high school years at William Clarke College in Kellyville, Sydney, Australia.
In 2003 and 2004 his WHIP was 1.42.
Balfour made his return to the major leagues on July 18, 2007 in the 8th inning with the Milwaukee Brewers. He relieved Chris Capuano in a 2-2 tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks, striking out Chris Young, the first hitter he faced. With two outs in the 8th, he hit a batter and walked another before giving up a three-run home run to Mark Reynolds, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-2 lead. Balfour would finish the 8th and 9th inning and take the loss in relief, having given up three earned runs in the 5-2 defeat.
Balfour missed all of 2005 recovering from surgery and spent 2006 and the first part of 2007 in the minors until being summoned from Triple-A Nashville on July 17.
On the same day that he was designated for assignment, Balfour was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays on July 27, 2007, for Seth McClung. Balfour finished the season in the Rays bullpen and was resigned to a 1 year deal.
Balfour came into 2008 spring training as a long-shot to make the Rays bullpen. Despite a solid spring training, eventually he lost out on the final spot and was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Durham on April 3, 2008.
Balfour was recalled from Triple A Durham on May 29th, 2008. He recorded the save on May 31st vs. the White Sox retiring Brian Anderson to end the game in a Rays 2-0 win.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
Balfour accepts assignment to Durham
