Bryan LaHair

From BR Bullpen

Bryan Allan LaHair

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 5", Weight 215 lb.

School St. Petersburg Community College
High School Holy Name Central Catholic High School
Debut July 18, 2008

Born November 5, 1982 in Worcester, MA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Bryan LaHair made his Major League debut with the Seattle Mariners in their first game following the 2008 All-Star Game, taking the place of the released Richie Sexson on the M's roster.

LaHair was picked by the Mariners in the 39th round of the 2002 amateur draft (the 1,180th pick) after hitting .375 with 62 RBI his second year at junior college. He debuted with the Everett AquaSox a year later and hit .244/.286/.343. In 2004, LaHair hit .440/.464/.800 in 7 games with Everett and moved up to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, where he batted .279/.323/.427.

Bryan emerged as a prospect in 2005 with a .310/.373/.503 batting line for the Inland Empire 66ers with 81 runs, 113 RBI, 22 home runs and 125 strikeouts. He was 3 RBI behind California League leader Chris Lubanski. He led league first basemen in fielding percentage (.996) and was the league All-Star 1B. The team MVP, he led Mariners farmhands in RBI and tied for second in homers, trailing teammate Wladimir Balentien by 3. He batted .361/.410/.694 with 3 homers, 9 runs and 8 RBI in 10 games for the USA national team in the 2005 Baseball World Cup as the regular first baseman (Josh Phelps, the DH, played first, when LaHair DH'ed).

LaHair started 2006 with the San Antonio Missions and was hitting .293/.371/.428 after 60 games. He was slated for a stint in the Texas League All-Star Game but was called up to AAA with the Tacoma Rainiers. He batted .327/.393/.525 with 10 HR and 44 RBI in 54 contests. Overall, his batting line in the minors that year was .309/.381/.474 with 16 HR and 74 RBI. He was fourth among Mariners farmhands in average, homers and RBI and was named their minor league MVP. In the 2006 qualifying games for the 2008 Olympics, LaHair returned to the national team and hit .222/.317/.500 with 10 runs in 8 games to help the USA get a spot in the Olympics. In 19 games for the Caneros de los Mochis, he batted .234/.359/.359.

Bryan hit .261/.303/.372 with only 3 HR but 15 doubles in his first 54 games of 2007 with the Tacoma Rainiers despite a .341 mark in his prior 10 games. He only homered once in his first 53 games before going deep twice on June 3 against the Iowa Cubs as he was coming out of his early season funk. He bounced back somewhat by year's end to finish with a .275/.332/.431 batting line with 46 doubles, 12 homers and 81 RBI with 126 strikeouts. He was second to Delwyn Young in the Pacific Coast League in doubles.

LaHair opened 2008 with Tacoma and was batting .263/.357/.467 with 26 doubles in 85 games. He was then called up to the majors to replace Richie Sexson, who had been released. Bryan debuted as a pinch-hitter for Jose Lopez, facing Juan Rincon, and hit into a double play in his first MLB at-bat. He hit .250/.315/.346 in 45 games for the 2008 Mariners and fielded .993 at first base. He would play one more game for Tacoma in '08 after his MLB call-up.

He spent 2009 with Tacoma, hitting 26 home runs. He batted .289/.354/.530 and drove home 85 runs.

Sources: 2007 Mariners Media Guide, Minor League Baseball website, IBAF website, Mexican Pacific League stats, 2004-2007 Baseball Almanacs