| Tyson Gillies | ||||||||||||||||||
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 Gillies at Phillies training camp 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Outfielder | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born: (1988-10-31)October 31, 1988 (age 37) Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Right | ||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Tyson Gillies (born October 31, 1988) is a Canadian formerprofessional baseballoutfielder. He was theSeattle Mariners' 25th round selection in the2006 Major League Baseball draft. He graduated fromR. E. Mountain Secondary School inLangley, British Columbia and is a member of theCanadian national baseball team.
He began pro career with the minor leaguePeoria Mariners in2007. He recorded a single in his first career at-bat, June 23 against theArizona League Angels. He recorded three stolen bases on August 6 against theArizona League Royals. He was transferred to the Short-SeasonEverett AquaSox on August 31, recording five hits in eight at-bats. He participated in the Mariners 2007Arizona Fall League.
Gillies began the2008 season with the Class-A AdvancedHigh Desert Mavericks. He appeared in 11 games where he only hit .200. He was then promoted to High A baseball where he hit .233 with one RBI and no home runs.
On December 16, 2009, he was traded by the Mariners to the Phillies along withPhillippe Aumont, andJ. C. Ramirez as part of a three team trade that includedMajor League Baseball All-StarsCliff Lee andRoy Halladay. Gillies said this about the trade:
That was overwhelming to hear my name even being involved or mentioned with [Lee and Halladay], let alone being traded for them.
— Tyson Gillies,bclocalnews.com: December 17, 2009[1]
Gillies was added to the team's 40-man roster on November 18, 2011.[2] He was outrighted off the roster on June 6, 2014.
On February 27, 2015, Gillies signed a minor league contract with theSan Diego Padres.[3]
On March 18, 2016, Gillies signed with theSugar Land Skeeters of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball. He was released on June 27.
On June 29, 2016, Gillies signed with theKansas City T-Bones of theAmerican Association of Professional Baseball.[4] In 45 games for the T-Bones, Gillies batted .252/.313/.405 with 4 home runs and 16 RBI. He was released by the team on January 30, 2017.[5]
On June 7, 2017, Gillies signed with theOttawa Champions of theCan-Am League. On February 20, 2018, Gillies was traded from theOttawa Champions to theGary SouthShore RailCats of theAmerican Association. He was released prior to the 2018 season on May 18.
On June 15, 2018, Gillies signed with theYork Revolution of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball. He was released on July 3.
On January 26, 2019, Gillies signed with theQuébec Capitales of theCan-Am League. He was released on July 21.
At age four, Gillies was diagnosed with ahearing impairment that has left him with 30 percent hearing in one ear and 50 percent in the other.[6] Thanks to the use ofhearing aids and an ability to read lips, Gilles has little trouble overcoming his impairment. He said this about his disability:
I had to try harder. It made me stronger. It's the focus – I have to focus hard on everything I do in life. On the field I depend on knowing every situation, cutoff plays, where baserunners are, because I can’t always hear people yelling. I rely on what I see and what I know about the game. I study it. I think my vision is probably phenomenal, I know I see things other people don’t. I think the lack of one sense forced me to use another more, so I see everything going on around me. I have to.
On August 20, 2010, Gillies was arrested and charged inClearwater, Florida on felony cocaine possession.[8] After attending a bar the night of the arrest, Gillies was offered a ride to his hotel by a police officer. Before entering the police cruiser, the officer searched Gillies for weapons and paraphernalia and did not find Gillies to be possessing anything illegal. Upon dropping Gillies off, the officer found a three-gram bag of a white powdery substance that appeared to be cocaine on the floor of the backseat of the cruiser and arrested Gillies for possession. Within hours[9] of the arrest, Gillies underwent drug testing and showed no traces of cocaine, marijuana or opiates in his system.[10]
The state attorney's office dropped all charges against Gillies because the backseat of the cruiser was not thoroughly searched before Gillies entered the vehicle, the officer failed to find the substance during a routine search of Gillies before he entered the vehicle, and because the substance failed two on-site drug tests.[11]
Gillies said of the charges being dropped, "I’m glad that this ordeal is over, but I’m still very upset that it happened to me and that my character, which I’ve worked so hard to build, can even be questioned."[9]
In 2024, Gillies competed on thetenth season ofThe Amazing Race Canada withMichael Crouse.[12]
Media related toTyson Gillies at Wikimedia Commons
· ESPN · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors)
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