Adam Lind

Adam Lind
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 26
First baseman / Designated Hitter
Born: (1983-07-17) July 17, 1983 (age 28)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 2, 2006 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through May 9, 2012)
Batting average	.264
Hits	642
Home runs	109
Runs batted in	377
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2006–present)
Career highlights and awards
Silver Slugger Award winner (2009) Edgar Martinez Award winner (2009)

Lind playing for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Blue Jays, in 2006.

Adam Alan Lind (born July 17, 1983 in Muncie, Indiana) is an American professional baseball first baseman with the Las Vegas 51s, Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was drafted in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2004 Major League Baseball amateur draft and was signed on June 30, 2004. He was first drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the eighth round (242nd overall) of the 2002 amateur draft. Lind attended Highland High School in Anderson, Indiana. Lind was named 2006 Eastern League MVP, playing for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Lind attended the University of South Alabama in 2003 and 2004 before being drafted by the Jays in 2004 as a draft-eligible sophomore. In 2003, he was named as a Freshman 2nd team All-American first baseman. In 2004, he was named a Sun Belt Conference All-Star outfielder.

Professional career

Minor leagues

In his first professional season for the Single-A short-season Auburn Doubledays, Lind hit .312 with 7 home runs and 50 runs batted in.

2006–2008

Lind would be a September 2006 call-up for the Blue Jays, and his first major league hit came on September 2, 2006 against Lenny DiNardo of the Boston Red Sox. He hit his first major league career home run on September 10, 2006 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim off fellow rookie Jered Weaver. In his first five games at the major league level, he had a batting average of .417 with seven hits, one home run, and three runs batted in. After the 2006 season he finished hitting .367, with 2 home runs and 8 RBI.

Lind was called up on April 13, 2007 from Syracuse to replace Reed Johnson, who was placed on the disabled list with a herniated disc in his back. Lind was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on July 7, 2007 when Johnson was activated from the disabled list. For the 2007 season, Lind had a .238 batting average with 11 homers and 48 RBI. After a poor start to the 2008 season, Lind was demoted to AAA. He subsequently hit .300 at the AAA level and earned a call-up again to the Blue Jays on June 21, 2008. After being recalled, Lind finished the 2008 season hitting .282 with 9 homers and 40 RBI.^[1][2]

2009–2010

In 2009, Lind was the Opening Day designated hitter for the Blue Jays and drove in six runs against the Detroit Tigers, a Blue Jay Opening Day record, propelling the Jays to a 12 - 5 victory. He went on to tie the Blue Jays record of 11 RBI in five games to start the season, set by Carlos Delgado in 2001. Lind ended April with 4 homers, 20 RBIs and a .315 batting average in 23 games. In a game against the Texas Rangers on August 31, Lind hit a grand slam, the first of his career, and had a career single-game high eight RBI. He became the second Blue Jay of the 2009 season (after Lyle Overbay) to win AL Player of the Week for the week ending September 6, sharing the award with Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria. On September 14, Lind drove in three runs to reach 100 RBIs on the season, becoming the first Blue Jay to do so since Troy Glaus and Vernon Wells in 2006. The next day Lind hit his 30th home run of the season, joining teammate Aaron Hill with thirty or more home runs. On September 29, 2009, Lind hit three home runs in a game against the Boston Red Sox. He finished the 2009 season with 35 HR, 114 RBI, a batting average of .305, 46 doubles, and 179 hits.

Lind won the Edgar Martinez Award as the outstanding DH for the 2009 season on December 15, 2009.^[3] He became the third Jay to win the award. Previous Jays to win the award were Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor.^[3]

On April 3, 2010, Lind signed a contract extension with the Blue Jays.^[4] He will earn $400,000 in the 2010 season, with a $600,000 signing bonus, and $5 million per season for 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Blue Jays also have the right to exercise yearly club options of $7 million for 2014 (or buy out the contract for $2 million), $7.5 million for 2015 (or $1.5 million buyout), and $8 million for 2016 (or $500,000 buyout).^[4]

2011-present

On opening day of the 2011 season, Lind hit his first home run of the season, back-to-back with Jose Bautista.^[5]

On May 18, Lind was placed on the 15-day DL for "lower back stiffness", retroactive to May 8. On June 4, Lind made his return to the lineup against the Baltimore Orioles. He finished 0-3 with one walk.^[6]

On August 13, Lind hit his 100th career home run (and his second grand slam of the season) off Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starter Jered Weaver.

In a game against the Kansas City Royals on April 20, 2012, Lind recorded the first two outs of a triple play, the first triple play by the Blue Jays since 1979, and the fourth in franchise history.^[7]

On May 17, 2012, the Blue Jays optioned Lind to Las Vegas. Yan Gomes was called up to replace Lind.^[8]

On May 19, 2012, Adam Lind was placed on outright waivers. This made it possible for another team to claim Lind and to become responsible for the remainder of his contract^[9]Lind went unclaimed and on May 31, was removed from the Blue Jays 40-man roster^[10] when the team selected the contract of Robert Coello.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adam Lind

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)