Casey Blake

[William Malone]

William Casey Blake was born on August 23, 1973 in De Moines, Iowa.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected him in round seven of the 1996 MLB Draft. He made his Major League debut for them in 1999, batting .256 with one home run in 14 games. Toronto placed him on waivers early in the 2000 season while he was back in Triple-A. The Minnesota Twins claimed him.

Blake spent most of his time with the Twins in the minor leagues. He hit .317 in 2000 for their Triple-A, and .309 in 2001. Minnesota called him up periodically, and Blake was 10-for-38 (.263) with three doubles and three RBI at the Major League level in those two seasons. They placed Blake on waivers late in the 2001 campaign, and the Baltimore Orioles claimed him. He played nine games for the Orioles as a September call-up.

Minnesota was able to reacquire Blake through waivers the following off-season. He hit .309 in Triple-A once again, matching his average from the year before. Blake appeared in nine Major League games for the Twins in 2002, going 4-for-20 (.200) with a double and an RBI. They released him after the season, and he signed with the Cleveland Indians.

Cleveland gave Blake the playing time he had been looking for, and he spent close to six seasons there as a full time starter. Blake hit .266 with 116 home runs in 810 games for the Indians. They traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline in 2008. He hit .260 with 49 home runs in a Dodgers uniform, sticking with them through 2011.

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