Ted Lilly

Ted Lilly
Chicago Cubs – No. 30
Starting pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left
debut
May 14, 1999, for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics (through August 24, 2009)
Win-Loss	100-83
Earned run average	4.31
Strikeouts	1,273
Shutouts	2
Teams
Montreal Expos (1999) New York Yankees (2000-2002) Oakland Athletics (2002-2003) Toronto Blue Jays (2004-2006) Chicago Cubs (2007-present)
Career highlights and awards
2x All-Star selection (2004, 2009)

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

Professional career

Early years

Lilly broke into the majors with the Montreal Expos in 1999, pitching in only nine games that year before being traded to the New York Yankees as part of a trade involving Hideki Irabu. Lilly played two plus 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.

2004 season

Lilly was traded from the Athletics to the 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.

2006 season

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.

2007 season

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 (Intent is unknown) 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.

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 3 1/3 innings.

2009 Season

As of July 7, Lilly is enjoying his best season to date. He is 8-6, has thrown 111.1 innings, surrendered 104 hits and 23 walks for a 1.14 WHIP, with 97 strikeouts and a 3.32 ERA. Opponent are hitting .248 off him. He has also been named to his second all-star game, as the Cubs lone representative.

MLB stats

current as of July 7, 2009.

Season	Team	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	ERA
1999	Montreal Expos	9	3	0	0	23.2	30	20	20	7	9	28	0	1	7.61
2000	New York Yankees	7	0	0	0	8.0	8	6	5	1	5	11	0	0	5.63
2001	New York Yankees	26	21	0	0	120.2	126	81	72	20	51	112	5	6	5.37
2002	New York Yankees	16	11	2	1	76.2	57	31	29	10	24	59	3	6	4.40
2002	Oakland Athletics	6	5	0	0	23.1	23	12	12	5	7	18	2	1	4.63
2003	Oakland Athletics	32	31	0	0	178.1	179	92	86	24	58	147	12	10	4.34
2004	Toronto Blue Jays	32	32	2	1	197.1	171	92	89	26	89	168	12	10	4.99
2005	Toronto Blue Jays	25	25	0	0	126.1	135	79	78	23	58	96	10	11	5.56
2006	Toronto Blue Jays	32	32	0	0	181.2	179	98	87	28	81	160	15	13	4.31
2007	Chicago Cubs	34	34	0	0	207.0	181	91	88	28	55	174	15	8	3.83
2008	Chicago Cubs	33	33	0	0	198.2	185	95	92	32	63	180	17	9	4.17
2009	Chicago Cubs	17	17	0	0	111.0	104	44	41	17	23	97	8	6	3.22

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs