Brian Dozier

James Brian Dozier (/ˈdoʊʒər/;born May 15, 1987) is an American professional baseball second baseman with the San Diego Padres. The Minnesota Twins selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2012. He has played in MLB for the Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals. Dozier was an All-Star in 2015, and won a Gold Glove Award in 2017.

Brian Dozier
Dozier at Nationals Park in 2019
San Diego Padres – No. 25
Second baseman
Born: (1987-05-15) May 15, 1987
Fulton, Mississippi
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 7, 2012, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Batting average.245
Home runs192
Runs batted in561
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Amateur career

Dozier attended and played baseball for Itawamba Agricultural High School located in Fulton, Mississippi, becoming a local star in the town of 4,000.[1] In baseball, he was selected All-State for two years and named "Player of the Year" in north Mississippi. He also received varsity letters in football, golf, and basketball. While playing in high school, he also played for American Legion Baseball's Post 49's Tupelo 49ers from 2002–2005.[2]

College career

Dozier attended the University of Southern Mississippi and played college baseball for the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles from 2006 through 2009. He was named a Freshman All-American and selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.[2] In 224 career games at Southern Miss, he hit .355 with 55 doubles, seven triples, 16 home runs, and 152 runs batted in. He was a member of the Southern Miss team that went to the College World Series in 2009.[3] He played for the Bethesda Big Train of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League in 2006.[4]

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He was chosen as the Twins Minor League Player of the Year in 2011.[3] The Twins invited Dozier to spring training in 2012.

Dozier was called up in May 2012 to replace Justin Morneau.[3] On May 13, Dozier hit his first career Major League home run off Ricky Romero of the Toronto Blue Jays.[5] In 2012 he batted .234/.271/.332 with 6 home runs in 316 at bats.[6] In 2013 he batted .244/.312/.414.

Dozier with the Twins in 2012

In 2014, Dozier surpassed Hall of Famer Paul Molitor's Twins franchise record of 25 runs scored in the month of April, a record that had stood for 18 years.[7] Dozier was not selected to the 2014 All-Star Game,[8] however he was selected by American League captain José Bautista to participate in the 2014 Home Run Derby.[9] On August 20, Dozier became the first second basemen in Twins history and 13th in MLB history to record a "20/20 season" (20+ homeruns and 20+ stolen bases).[10] Additionally, Dozier was the first Twins player since Torii Hunter did so in 2004.[11] At season's end, Dozier scored the second most runs in a season (112) in Minnesota's history since Chuck Knoblauch tallied 117 runs in 1997. On defense, he led American League second basemen in errors (15) and assists (475).[6]

Dozier was selected as a roster replacement for José Bautista in the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game after coming in second to Mike Moustakas in the All-Star Final Vote. Entering the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter, Dozier cracked a solo home run off the Pittsburgh Pirates' Mark Melancon to become the 16th player to homer in his first All-Star Game at-bat. He finished the season batting .236/.307/.444 with 28 home runs and a career-high 148 strikeouts (9th in the American League), and leading the majors in pull percentage (60.2%).[6][12] Dozier was named a finalist for the 2015 American League Second Baseman (2B) Rawlings Gold Glove Award, alongside fellow second basemen Astros Jose Altuve and Tigers Ian Kinsler.[13]

On September 12, 2016, Dozier became the first American League second baseman to hit 40 home runs in a season with a 3rd inning shot against Daniel Norris of the Detroit Tigers. He finished the season with 42 home runs, and again leading the majors in pull percentage (56.4%).[14]

Dozier set a new Twins record with a 16-game hitting streak to start off the 2018 season. In the 10th inning of the July 15 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Dozier hit the first walk-off grand slam in the history of Target Field.[15] It was the first time in Major League Baseball history that extra inning, walk-off grand slams had been hit on consecutive days, following Xander Bogaerts' 10th inning slam for the Boston Red Sox the day before.[16] It was Dozier's fourth walk-off home run and sixth walk-off hit at Target Field, both records for the ballpark.[17][18] He also became only the second player (after Eddie Rosario) to have hit multiple grand slams at Target Field.[15] He batted .227/.307/.405 with 16 home runs in 410 at bats in 2018 for the Twins.[6]

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 31, 2018, Dozier was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Logan Forsythe and minor leaguers Devin Smeltzer and Luke Raley.[19] In 47 games with the Dodgers he hit only .182/.300/.350 with 5 homers and 20 RBIs in 143 at bats, and was relegated to pinch-hitting duties in the playoffs.[20]

Washington Nationals

On January 13, 2019, Dozier signed a one-year, $9 million contract with the Washington Nationals.[21]

In 2019, he batted .238/.340/.430 with 20 home runs and 50 RBIs.[22] Defensively, he had a -5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the lowest in the National League among second basemen.[23] The Nationals finished the season with a 93–69 record, clinching a wild card spot. They went on to win the World Series over the Astros, their first championship in franchise history.[24]

San Diego Padres

On February 23, 2020, Dozier signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres, with an invitation to Spring Training. [25]

Personal life

Dozier is married to Renee Dozier.[26]

Dozier is a Christian. Dozier has spoken about his faith saying, "I'm a Christian just playing baseball on the side. That's what I stand for...".[27] In November 2013, Dozier went with the mission group Amigos for Christ to Nicaragua for a week. While on the trip, Dozier helped dig a new clean water system for a small community and helped deliver a cow and a pig to the community for food.[28]

References
  1. "Minnesota Twins: Brian Dozier blends people skills with strong baseball background". TwinCities.com. May 11, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  2. "Brian Dozier Bio - SOUTHERNMISS.COM - The Southern Miss Golden Eagles Official Athletic Site". southernmiss.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  3. "Brian Dozier Promoted to Minnesota Twins - SOUTHERNMISS.COM - The Southern Miss Golden Eagles Official Athletic Site". southernmiss.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  4. "The Official Site of Bethesda Big Train Summer Collegiate Baseball: Alumni". www.bigtrain.org. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  5. "Diamond's gem earns split with Jays". mlb.com. May 13, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  6. "Brian Dozier Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  7. "For single seasons, From 1914 to 2014, Franchise: Minnesota Twins, April/March (within Months), sorted by greatest Runs Scored for this split: Results - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  8. "Twinsights: Brian Dozier reflects on being passed over for All-Star Game". July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  9. Berardino, Mike (July 8, 2014). "Twins' Brian Dozier invited to Home Run Derby".
  10. "Batting Split Finder - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  11. Bleacher Report Milestones. "Twins' Brian Dozier Records Franchise's First 20-20 Season by a Second Baseman". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  12. "Major League Leaderboards » 2015 » Batters » Batted Ball Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  13. "Gold Glove Award finalists announced". Minnesota Twins. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  14. "Major League Leaderboards » 2016 » Batters » Batted Ball Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  15. "Team Batting Event Finder: From 1925 to 2018, All Teams, Home Runs, at TargetFld, With Runners on 123". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  16. "Team Batting Event Finder: From 1925 to 2018, All Teams, Home Runs, Walk-off, With Runners on 123, during Extra Innings". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  17. "Team Batting Event Finder: From 1925 to 2018, All Teams, Home Runs, Walk-off, at TargetFld". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  18. "Team Batting Event Finder: From 1925 to 2018, All Teams, Hits, Walk-off, at TargetFld". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  19. Gurnick, Ken (July 31, 2018). "Dodgers add depth in trades for Dozier, Axford". mlb.com. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  20. "2018 Los Angeles Dodgers Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  21. Colliner, Jamal (January 13, 2019). "Nats sign Dozier to 1-year, $9 million deal". MLB.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  23. "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » Second Basemen » Fielding Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. January 1, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  24. "Washington Nationals win 2019 World Series". MLB. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  25. AJ Cassavel. "Adding Dozier gives Padres infield options". Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  26. "Higher power: Faith comes first for Twins' rising Dozier". Djournal.com. February 7, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  27. foxsports (February 2, 2014). "Faith first for Twins' rising Dozier". Foxsports.com. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  28. Pioneer Press (December 12, 2013). "Tom Powers: Twins' Brian Dozier enjoys labor of love". Twincities.com. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
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