Ted Lilly

Ted Lilly
Los Angeles Dodgers – No. 29
Starting pitcher
Born: January 4, 1976 (1976-01-04) Torrance, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 14, 1999 for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics (through 2011 season)
Win-Loss	125-110
Earned run average	4.16
Strikeouts	1,632
Teams
Montreal Expos (1999) New York Yankees (2000–2002) Oakland Athletics (2002–2003) Toronto Blue Jays (2004–2006) Chicago Cubs (2007–2010) Los Angeles Dodgers (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
2x All-Star selection (2004, 2009) Member of 2010 WBC USA Team

Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Lilly III (born January 4, 1976, in Torrance, California), is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He bats and throws left-handed. Lilly attended Yosemite High School in Oakhurst, California, and Fresno City College.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Lilly was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 23rd round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. After two seasons in the Dodgers farm system, he was traded (along with Peter Bergeron, Wilton Guerrero and Jonathan Tucker) to the Montreal Expos for Hiram Bocachica, Mark Grudzielanek and Carlos Pérez.

Montreal Expos

Lilly made his Major League debut for the Expos on May 14, 1999 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching one inning in relief. He made his first start on September 19 against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched in nine games for the Expos, with three starts.

New York Yankees

Lilly was traded to the New York Yankees on March 17, 2000 as part of a trade involving Hideki Irabu.

Oakland Athletics

Lilly played for more than two years for the Yankees before being dealt to the Oakland Athletics in a three team deal that included pitchers Jeff Weaver heading to New York and Jeremy Bonderman going to the Detroit Tigers. Lilly was in the starting rotation for Oakland, and pitched in the American League Division Series in both 2002 and 2003.

Toronto Blue Jays

Lilly was traded from the Athletics to the Toronto Blue Jays for Bobby Kielty. He made the American League All-Star team in 2004 as the Jays' lone representative that year.

The highlight of his career as a Blue Jay was a start on August 23, 2004 against the Boston Red Sox. He pitched a complete-game shutout and struck out 13 batters in a three-hit 3–0 victory.

Lilly was 15–13 with a 4.31 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 2006, exceeding his previous career-high for wins (12). He also equaled a career high for starts (32) and nearly matched his career highs in strikeouts and innings pitched. This season, he ranked first among the Jays' pitching staff in strikeouts and second only to Roy Halladay in wins (Halladay had a 16–5 record before a recurring elbow injury ended his season in late September).

On August 21, 2006, in a game against the Oakland Athletics, Lilly was surrendering an early 8-0 lead in the 3rd inning when manager John Gibbons took him out of the game. With the score 8-5 and runners on 1st and 3rd, Lilly refused to give him the ball. Eventually, he reluctantly left the mound and later feuded with Gibbons in the locker room, though Gibbons maintained no punches were thrown.

Lilly filed for free agency at the end of the 2006 season, and alongside Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt and Jeff Suppan, was one of the most sought-after free agent pitchers, partially due to the thin market for starting pitching. On the morning of December 6, 2006, he informed the Blue Jays that he would not be returning to the club, thus rejecting a four year, $40 million deal. He cited a "change in scenery" as his reasoning. Later on that day, Lilly agreed to an identical four year, $40 million deal with the Chicago Cubs, officially ending his tenure with the Blue Jays.

Chicago Cubs

Lilly pitching for the Cubs in 2007.

In his first start for the Cubs, Lilly defeated the Cincinnati Reds in a strong outing, taking a no hitter into the fifth inning, and only yielding one earned run over seven innings. Lilly then was the starting pitcher for the Cubs home opening game at Wrigley Field on April 9, 2007. Lilly gave up three runs in six innings, but did not factor into the decision. Lilly pitched well in April, lasting at least six innings in each of his five starts while never giving up more than three runs in a game posting a 2.18 ERA.

Lilly was prominent in a contentious series in Atlanta between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. In game one of the series, Alfonso Soriano hit three home runs in his first three at-bats as part of a Cubs 9-1 victory. In the next game, Tim Hudson hit Soriano with a first-pitch fastball triggering home-plate umpire Tim Tschida to issue warnings to both teams. On the final game of the series, Lilly hit Edgar Rentería in the first inning, and was promptly thrown out of the ballgame by Jim Wolf. Lilly was not suspended for his actions in the game. In 2009 he was named to his second all-star game, as the Cubs lone representative.

On June 13, 2010, Lilly took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Chicago White Sox. In the ninth, he gave up a lead off single to Juan Pierre, then was lifted for relief pitcher Carlos Mármol, who got the save, getting out of a bases loaded jam, for a 1-0 Cub victory. This was the longest outing that Lilly held a team hitless. The no-hitter would have been the first pitched at Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas in 1972.

2009 World Baseball Classic

Lilly was the starting pitcher in two games for Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

In the first game he faced Venezuela but was pulled after 36 pitches. Manager Davey Johnson wanted to get work for starter Jeremy Guthrie and as many relievers as possible. Lilly left with the United States trailing 1-0, thanks to the homer he served up to his former Cubs batterymate, Henry Blanco. His second start was against Puerto Rico, a game that Team USA would win with a David Wright two-run single in the bottom of the ninth. For his part Lilly gave up two home runs, the only two hits he gave up in his 3¹⁄₃ innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 31, 2010, Lilly and Ryan Theriot were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Blake DeWitt, Brett Wallach, and Kyle Smit. Lilly won his first five starts as a Dodger posting a 1.83 ERA. He finished his season with the Dodgers with a record of 7-4 and a 3.52 ERA in 12 starts, which included a complete game shutout on August 19 against the Colorado Rockies. On October 19, 2010, Lilly agreed to a 3-year, $33 million, contract with the Dodgers. After a disappointing first half of the season in 2011, where he had an ERA of 4.79, Lilly pitched much better in the second half, with a 2.96, also allowing only 9 homers in the second half after allowing 19 the first half. His final record was 12-14 with a 3.97 ERA in 33 starts.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

External links

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