Delmon Young facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Delmon Young |
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Young with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014
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| Outfielder / Designated hitter | ||||||||||||||
| Born: September 14, 1985 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
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| debut | ||||||||||||||
| August 29, 2006, for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | ||||||||||||||
| June 29, 2015, for the Baltimore Orioles | ||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .283 | |||||||||||||
| Home runs | 109 | |||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 566 | |||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
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Delmon Damarcus Young (born September 14, 1985) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder and designated hitter. Delmon played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for several teams. These included the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays and Minnesota Twins. He also played for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Baltimore Orioles. Delmon is the younger brother of former MLB player Dmitri Young. He was the very first player chosen in the 2003 MLB draft.
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Playing in the Minor Leagues
Delmon Young finished high school in 2003. He went to Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo, California. After high school, he was the first player picked in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft.
In 2005, Young played for the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. He had a great batting average of .336. He also hit 20 home runs and had 71 RBI. He won the Southern League Most Valuable Player Award. This was impressive because he only played in 60% of the games. During May, he received a short suspension for an incident with an umpire.
Young moved up to the Triple-A Durham Bulls on July 15, 2005. There, he batted .285 with six home runs. He also had 28 RBI in 52 games. After the season, he was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year. He was also seen as the top prospect for the 2006 season. Young ended his minor league career with a .318 batting average.
Playing in Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
On August 28, 2006, the Devil Rays called Young up to the major leagues. This happened after another player needed surgery. His first MLB game was on August 29, 2006. This was exactly ten years after his older brother Dmitri's first major league game.
In his first time at bat, Young was hit by a pitch. In his first official at-bat, he hit a curveball for a two-run home run. This was his first Major League hit. Young played in 30 games for the Devil Rays in 2006. He batted .317 with three home runs and 10 RBI.
In 2007, Young was 21 years old. He finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. He batted .288 with 13 home runs and 93 RBI. He also played in all 162 games that season. Young was also chosen for the 2007 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.
On November 28, 2007, the Rays traded Young to the Minnesota Twins. Two other players were also part of this trade.
Minnesota Twins
Young had a great spring training before the 2008 season. He batted .361 and earned his spot in left field. In 2008, Young played in 152 games for the Twins. He batted .290 with 10 home runs and 69 RBI. He had 11 assists, which was the most for an AL left fielder.
He started slowly in 2009 but finished strong. He ended the season with 12 home runs and 60 RBI. His batting average was .284.
Young became the Twins' starting left fielder for the 2010 season. He lost 35 pounds during the off-season. The 2010 season was his best for hitting. Young batted .298 with 21 home runs and 112 RBIs. He finished tenth in voting for AL MVP. He was also a finalist for the American League All-Star team.
Young started the 2011 season batting .266. He had four home runs and 32 RBI in 84 games with the Twins.
Detroit Tigers
Young was traded to the Detroit Tigers on August 15, 2011. That night, the Tigers played the Twins. Young batted third in the lineup. In his first time at bat with the Tigers, Young hit a home run. In 2011, he batted .268 overall. He hit 12 home runs (8 with the Tigers) and had 64 RBI.
In his first playoff game as a Tiger, Young hit a home run. This was in Game 1 of the 2011 ALDS. He also hit the game-winning home run in Game 3. This gave Detroit a 2–1 lead over the New York Yankees. In Game 5 of the ALCS, Young got injured. He was activated to play in Game 2 of the next series. During Game 5 of the ALCS against the Texas Rangers, Young hit two home runs. He became the fourth Detroit Tiger to hit more than one home run in a playoff game.
Young continued his strong playoff performance in 2012. He was named MVP of the 2012 American League Championship Series. He batted .353 with two home runs and 6 RBI. The Tigers swept the Yankees in four games. He batted .357 in the 2012 World Series. He hit his first World Series home run in Game 4. The Tigers lost the series to the San Francisco Giants.
Young became a free agent after the 2012 season. He had earned about $6.75 million that year.
Philadelphia Phillies
On January 22, 2013, Young signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He started the season on the disabled list due to ankle surgery. He was activated on April 30. He made his Phillies debut the next day, hitting a solo home run. On August 9, he was removed from the active roster. He had batted .261 with eight home runs and 31 RBI in 80 games. On August 14, 2013, the Phillies released Young.
Back to Tampa
On August 22, 2013, Young signed a minor league deal. This was with the Tampa Bay Rays, his former team. He was added to the major league roster on September 1. Young played in 23 games for the Rays in September. He batted .258 with three home runs and 7 RBI. The Rays included him on their playoff roster. In the 2013 American League Wild Card Game, Young hit a solo home run. The Rays won 4–0 against the Cleveland Indians. He later batted .250 in the 2013 ALDS. The Rays lost to the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles
Young signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles in January 2014. On March 29, 2014, he earned a spot on the Orioles' Opening Day roster. Young hit his first home run as an Oriole on April 8, 2014. This was in a big win over the New York Yankees. He finished the 2014 season batting .302. He had seven home runs and 30 RBI in 83 games. Young was especially good as a pinch hitter. He got 10 hits in 20 tries (.500) when coming off the bench.
On October 3, 2014, Young came in as a pinch hitter. The bases were loaded in Game 2 of the 2014 American League Division Series. He hit a double that cleared the bases. This gave the Orioles a 7–6 lead over his old team, the Detroit Tigers. The Orioles won the game and took a 2–0 lead in the series.
On December 24, 2014, Young re-signed with the Orioles. He signed a one-year deal for $2.25 million. He was removed from the team on July 1, 2015. At that time, he was batting .270 with two home runs and 16 RBI. Young was released on July 9.
Later Career
On October 10, 2017, Young signed to play for the Melbourne Aces in Australia. This was an attempt to get back to Major League Baseball.
On February 21, 2018, Young signed with the Acereros de Monclova in Mexico. He was released on April 18, 2018.
Young later signed with the Pericos de Puebla on June 18, 2018. In 49 games, he hit .335 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs.
During the 2018/2019 season, Young played in Venezuela. He played for Navegantes del Magallanes. He became the first player from that team to win the league's MVP award. Young played in 61 games. He batted .294 with 19 home runs and 52 RBI. No other player hit more than 10 home runs that season.
After playing in Venezuela, Young returned to Australia. He played for the Melbourne Aces again in 2019/20. He signed to play for the Aces once more in the 2020/21 season.
