| Tyson Gillies | |
|---|---|
 Gillies at Phillies training camp 2010 |
|
| Philadelphia Phillies – No. 64 | |
| Center fielder | |
| Born: October 31, 1988 Vancouver, British Columbia |
|
| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
Tyson Gillies (born October 31, 1988) is a minor league Outfielder in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. His nickname is Hamster for having endured numerous hamstring injuries the past several seasons. He was the Seattle Mariners' 25th round selection in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft; signed by Mariners scout Wayne Norton. He graduated R.E. Mountain Secondary School in June 2006 and played for the Canadian national baseball team in High School. Gillies grew up in the interior of B.C. in Kamloops where he also participated in hockey by playing at the highest level (AAA) for 4 years. After participating in the famous Kamloops International Bantam ice Hockey Tournament (2003), Gillies elected to focus on his baseball opportunities.
Contents |
Professional career [edit]
Seattle Mariners [edit]
He began pro career with the minor league Peoria Mariners in 2007. He recorded a single in his first career at-bat, June 23 against the Arizona League Angels. He recorded three stolen bases on August 6 against the Arizona League Royals. He was transferred to the Short-Season Everett AquaSox on August 31, recording five hits in eight at-bats. He participated in the Mariners 2007 Arizona Fall League.
Gillies began the 2008 season with the Class-A Advanced High Desert Mavericks. He appeared in 11 games where he only hit a dismal .200. He was then promoted to High A baseball where he hit only .233 with only 1 RBI and no Home runs.
Philadelphia Phillies [edit]
On December 16, 2009, he was traded by the Mariners to the Phillies along with Phillippe Aumont, and J. C. Ramirez as part of a three team trade that included Major League Baseball All-Stars Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. Gillies said this about the trade:
| “ | That was overwhelming to hear my name even being involved or mentioned with [Lee and Halladay], let alone being traded for them. | ” |
|
—Tyson Gillies, bclocalnews.com: December 17, 2009[1] |
||
Gillies was added to the teams 40 man roster on November 18, 2011.[2]
Personal life [edit]
At age four, Gillies was diagnosed with a hearing impairment that has left him with 30 percent hearing in one ear and 50 percent in the other.[3] Thanks to the use of hearing aids and an ability to read lips Gilles has little trouble overcoming his impairment. He said this about his disability:
| “ | I had to try harder. It made me stronger. It’s the focus – I have to focus hard on everything I do in life. On the field I depend on knowing every situation, cutoff plays, where baserunners are, because I can’t always hear people yelling. I rely on what I see and what I know about the game. I study it. I think my vision is probably phenomenal, I know I see things other people don’t. I think the lack of one sense forced me to use another more, so I see everything going on around me. I have to. | ” |
On August 20, 2010, Gillies was arrested and charged in Clearwater, Florida on felony cocaine possession.[5] After attending a bar the night of the arrest, Gillies was offered a ride to his hotel by a police officer. Before entering the police cruiser, the officer searched Gillies for weapons and paraphernalia and did not find Gillies to be possessing anything illegal. Upon dropping Gillies off, the officer found a three-gram bag of a white powdery substance that appeared to be cocaine on the floor of the backseat of the cruiser and arrested Gillies for possession. Within hours[6] of the arrest, Gillies underwent drug testing and showed no traces of cocaine, marijuana or opiates in his system.[7]
The state attorney's office dropped all charges against Gillies because the backseat of the cruiser was not thoroughly searched before Gillies entered the vehicle, the officer failed to find the substance during a routine search of Gillies before he entered the vehicle, and because the substance failed two on-site drug tests.[8]
Gillies said of the charges being dropped, “I’m glad that this ordeal is over, but I’m still very upset that it happened to me and that my character, which I’ve worked so hard to build, can even be questioned.” [9]
References [edit]
- ^ Gary Ahuja (December 17, 2009). "Gillies going to Phillies". Black Press. bclocalnews.com. Retrieved 2009-12-17.[dead link]
- ^ Phillies add 4 to 40-man roster
- ^ Zolecki, Todd (February 4, 2010). "Gillies excited to join Phillies' system". Phillies.MLB.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- ^ Hearing-impaired M's prospect heeds baseball's call thenewstribune.com
- ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/101165004.html
- ^ http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20101009/KAMLOOPS0201/310099982/-1/kamloops/charge-against-gillies-dropped
- ^ http://articles.philly.com/2011-02-26/sports/2832522_1_freaki-tiki-strip-mall-cocaine-possession/2
- ^ http://articles.philly.com/2011-02-26/sports/28632522_1_freaki-tiki-strip-mall-cocaine-possession/3
- ^ http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20101009/KAMLOOPS0201/310099982/-1/kamloops/charge-against-gillies-dropped
External links [edit]
.jpg){kind=small}
- Career statistics and player information from Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
|
|||||
A portion of the proceeds from advertising on Digplanet goes to supporting Wikipedia.
