Bill Bray

William Paul Bray (born June 5, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds.

Bill Bray
During his tenure with the Cincinnati Reds
Relief pitcher
Born: (1983-06-05) June 5, 1983
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 3, 2006, for the Washington Nationals
Last MLB appearance
July 30, 2012, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
Win–loss record13–12
Earned run average3.74
Strikeouts188
Teams

Career

Amateur

A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Bray attended Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary.[1] In 2003, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[2]

Washington Nationals

The left-handed William Bray was the 13th overall selection in the 2004 draft by the former Montreal Expos franchise which relocated to Washington, D.C. and was renamed the Washington Nationals. Bray made his Major League debut on June 3, 2006, against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, earning a 1-pitch win.

Cincinnati Reds

Almost a month later, on July 13, 2006, Bray, along with infielders Royce Clayton and Brendan Harris, reliever Gary Majewski and starter Daryl Thompson were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Austin Kearns, infielder Felipe Lopez and pitcher Ryan Wagner.

Bray began the 2009 season with the Triple-A Louisville Bats after failing to earn a spot on the Reds' roster.[3] After only a few games in Louisville, Bray underwent Tommy John surgery to repair his left elbow and missed the rest of the year. Bray was called up from Triple-A Louisville June 27,[4] and made his 2010 debut with the Reds on June 28, 2010, pitching one inning vs the Philadelphia Phillies.

In six seasons with the Reds, with 2008 and 2011 being his best, Bray's record was 12–11 with a 3.72 ERA while striking out 172 in 174.1 innings in 258 appearances. On November 8, 2012, Bray elected free agency after a disappointing 2012 season in which he only pitched in 14 games.[5]

Return to Washington

On December 3, 2012, Bray returned to the Nationals on a minor league contract. He went to spring training with the Nationals, but on March 4, 2013, he was cut and sent back to their minor league camp.

Bray announced his retirement via his Twitter account on March 16, 2014.[6]

Post-retirement

In 2015, Bray returned to Orleans of the Cape Cod Baseball League to serve as the pitching coach for his former team.[7]

Personal

Bill Bray and his wife, Elaine, were married on December 2, 2006.[8] They have three daughters and one son.[9]

Following baseball, he returned to William & Mary to finish his undergraduate degree in finance. He graduated in May 2015,[10] and began attending William & Mary law school that fall.[11] He has also written multiple articles for Sporting News.[12][13]

In 2012, Bray shaved his head in an effort to raise funds for pediatric cancer.[14]

gollark: Either three or four depending on how you count.
gollark: PotatOS now pulls quotes from:The 70 Maxims of Maximally Effective MercenariesSome random online quotes thingySome random Chuck Norris jokes API
gollark: OR DOES IT?
gollark: Back down again until I work out an annoying thing.
gollark: It's up!

References
  1. The William & Mary Alumni Association. William and Mary. Accessed 9 January 2011.
  2. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  3. Reds Send Bailey to the Minors SI.com, April 5, 2009
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Polishuk, Mark (November 8, 2012). "Minor Moves: Bray, Valdez, Rondon, Hernandez". MLB Trade Rumors.
  6. "Lefty reliever Bill Bray announces his retirement". 2014-03-17.
  7. Conor Ryan (July 23, 2015). "Cape League characters: Bill Bray, Orleans pitching coach". capecodtimes.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  8. "Bill Bray » Red Hot Mama » Making Javier Valentín a household name since 2005". Red Hot Mama.
  9. "When it comes to his degree, Bray won't be shut out".
  10. "When it comes to his degree, Bray won't be shut out".
  11. https://twitter.com/wpbray. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-02-11/bill-bray-tommy-john-surgery-elbow-cincinnati-reds-washington-nationals-rehab. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2014-11-26/bill-bray-pitch-smart-advise-youth-baseball-pitchers-tommy-john-surgery?iadid=Nav_Sport_MLB_1. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-04-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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