Jamie Romak Explained

Jamie Romak
Position:Right fielder / First baseman
Birth Date:30 September 1985
Birth Place:London, Ontario, Canada
Bats:Right
Throws:Right
Debutleague:MLB
Debutdate:May 28
Debutyear:2014
Debutteam:Los Angeles Dodgers
Debut2league:NPB
Debut2date:March 25
Debut2year:2016
Debut2team:Yokohama DeNA BayStars
Debut3league:KBO
Debut3date:May 11
Debut3year:2017
Debut3team:SK Wyverns
Finalleague:MLB
Finaldate:October 2
Finalyear:2015
Finalteam:Arizona Diamondbacks
Final2league:NPB
Final2year:2016
Final2team:Yokohama DeNA BayStars
Final3league:KBO
Final3date:July 11
Final3year:2021
Final3team:SSG Landers
Statleague:MLB
Stat1label:Batting average
Stat1value:.167
Stat2label:Home runs
Stat2value:0
Stat3label:Runs batted in
Stat3value:4
Stat2league:NPB
Stat21label:Batting average
Stat21value:.113
Stat22label:Home runs
Stat22value:0
Stat23label:Runs batted in
Stat23value:2
Stat3league:KBO
Stat31label:Batting average
Stat31value:.277
Stat32label:Home runs
Stat32value:153
Stat33label:Runs batted in
Stat33value:403
Teams:
Awards:
Show-Medals:no

James Robert Romak (born September 30, 1985) is a Canadian former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and the KBO League for the SK Wyverns/SSG Landers. Romak has also competed for the Canadian national baseball team.

Amateur career

Romak attended A.B. Lucas Secondary School in London, Ontario, Canada.[1]

Professional career

Atlanta Braves

He was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round (127th overall) of the 2003 MLB draft.[2] He made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Braves of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2003, and played for the Danville Braves of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 2004 and 2005. He was promoted to the Rome Braves of the Class-A South Atlantic League (SAL) in 2006, where he had a .247 batting average, 26 doubles, 16 home runs and 68 runs batted in.[3]

Pittsburgh Pirates

Before the 2007 season, the Braves traded Romak with Adam LaRoche to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mike Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge.[4] The Pirates assigned Romak to the Hickory Crawdads of the SAL, before promoting him to the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Class-A Advanced Carolina League. Before the 2008 season, Baseball Prospectus rated Romak as the Pirates sixth best prospect.[5] Romak split the 2008 and 2009 seasons with the Hillcats and Altoona Curve of the Class-AA Eastern League.[6]

Kansas City Royals

Romak signed with the Kansas City Royals as a minor league free agent for the 2010 season.[7] With the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League, Romak was named Player of the Week three times in June, winning Player of the Month honours as well.[8] Romak batted .251 with 23 home runs for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Class-AA Texas League in 2011. He resigned with the Royals for 2012.[9]

St. Louis Cardinals

On May 17, 2012, Romak was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash considerations.[10] Romak spent most of the 2012 season with Cardinals Double-A affiliate Springfield. In December 2012 Romak re-signed with the Cardinals for 2013 and spent the season with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.[11]

Los Angeles Dodgers

On November 16, 2013, he signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and was assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. In 108 games for the Isotopes in 2014, he hit .280 with 24 homers and 85 RBI.

He was called up to the Dodgers on May 28, 2014, after 1,069 games and 4,306 plate appearances in the minor leagues.[12] He ground out to second base in his MLB debut, as a pinch hitter. His first hit was a 2-RBI double off Matt Belisle of the Colorado Rockies on June 8, 2014. That was his only hit in 21 at-bats for the Dodgers. He was designated for assignment on June 25, 2014.[13]

Arizona Diamondbacks

Romak signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a minor league free agent in November 2014.

On August 8, 2015, the Diamondbacks selected his contract from the Triple-A Reno Aces. On November 10, 2015, The Diamondbacks released Romak.

Yokohama DeNA BayStars

On November 13, 2015, he signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball.[14]

March 25, 2016, Romak made his NPB debut.

San Diego Padres

On November 8, 2016, Romak signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. In 25 games for the Triple–A El Paso Chihuahuas, Romak batted .347/.392/.800 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI.[15]

SK Wyverns/SSG Landers

On May 7, 2017, Romak had his contract sold to the SK Wyverns of the KBO League. On May 11, 2017, Romak made his KBO debut. During the 2020/2021 offseason, the Wyverns rebranded as the SSG Landers. On October 31, 2021, Romak announced his retirement from professional baseball.[16] In 5 seasons in the KBO for the Wyverns/Landers, Romak played in 626 games, hitting .273/.376/.532 with 155 home runs and 409 RBI, and won the Korean Series with the team in 2018.

International career

Romak has played for the Canada national baseball team. He participated in the 2007 Baseball World Cup, the 2011 Baseball World Cup, winning the bronze medal, and the 2011 Pan American Games, winning the gold medal.[17] [18] The 2011 Canadian team was inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.[19]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jamie Romak Statistics and History. Baseball-Reference.com. August 27, 2016.
  2. News: D-Rays take teen slugger with first selection in draft . https://archive.today/20130131154923/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/648253401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+04,+2003&author=&pub=Waterloo+Region+Record&desc=D-Rays+take+teen+slugger+with+first+selection+in+draft&pqatl=google . dead . January 31, 2013 . June 4, 2003.
  3. Pirates acquire Adam LaRoche from Atlanta. January 19, 2007. Major League Baseball. March 8, 2012.
  4. News: Pirates deal Gonzalez for LaRoche . CBC News . January 19, 2007.
  5. Web site: Goldstein . Kevin . Future Shock: Pirates Top 11 Prospects . Baseball Prospectus . February 14, 2008 . November 16, 2013.
  6. News: Pirates Notebook: Rays part of deep talks involving Bay. July 30, 2008. Dejan. Kovacevic. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 8, 2012.
  7. Web site: Royals Sign Eight to Minor League Contracts for 2011 Season – Kansas City, Missouri News . Infozine.com . November 16, 2013.
  8. Web site: Former Hillcat Romak heads to Double-A | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball . Milb.com . January 1, 2013 . November 16, 2013.
  9. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/01/3296367/royals-sign-seven-to-minor-league.html Royals notes: Team signs seven to minor-league deals – KansasCity.com
  10. http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bgPS0 Cardinals Acquire Jamie Romak
  11. Web site: Langosch. Jenifer. Cardinals achieve top objective at Winter Meetings. MLB.com via Cardinals team website. December 6, 2012. December 7, 2012.
  12. Web site: Jamie Romak called up to Dodgers with Carl Crawford on DL. Eric Stephen. truebluela.com. May 28, 2014.
  13. News: Dodgers add 1B Robinson from Triple-A Albuquerque. June 26, 2014. Associated Press. ESPN.com. June 25, 2014.
  14. Web site: ニュース | ジェイミー・ロマック選手と契約合意 | 横浜DeNAベイスターズ.
  15. Web site: Minor MLB Transactions: 5/16/17. June 15, 2024. mlbtraderumors.com. en.
  16. Web site: Canadian slugger Romak retires after 5 seasons in KBO . October 31, 2021 .
  17. News: Emrich . Robert . Van Ostrand, Canada take Pan Am gold | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball . Minor League Baseball . October 26, 2011 . January 12, 2012 . October 30, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111030083452/http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111025&content_id=25795034&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb . dead .
  18. Web site: nurun.com . Canada golden on baseball's world stage | Bob Elliott | Columnists | Sports | London Free Press . Lfpress.com . January 30, 2012 . November 16, 2013 . April 24, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160424192629/http://www.lfpress.com/sports/columnists/bob_elliott/2011/11/01/18911421.html . dead .
  19. Web site: Three London ball players part of Hall of Fame-bound team . London Community News . February 8, 2012 . November 16, 2013.