Joe Valentine

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Joseph John Valentine (born December 24, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds.

He is 6'2" tall, weighs 195 pounds and bats and throws right-handed.

Early life and amateur career

Valentine was born at

As a freshman, he attended St. Anthony's High School but later transferred to Deer Park High School in Deer Park, New York. He played primarily as a catcher and attracted little attention from college recruiters due to his mediocre offense.^[1]

Valentine initially accepted a scholarship to play

He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 26th round of the 1999 amateur draft out of Jefferson Davis and began his professional career that year.

Professional career

Splitting time between the

On December 13, 2001, Valentine was drafted in the rule 5 draft by the Montreal Expos. That same day, the Detroit Tigers purchased him. On April 5, 2002, he was returned to the White Sox by the Tigers.

In 2002, Valentine was a Double-A All-Star,

Following his outstanding 2002 season, Valentine was involved in a major trade that sent Keith Foulke, Mark Johnson, cash and himself to the Oakland Athletics for players to be named later and Billy Koch. The players to be named later ended up being Neal Cotts and minor leaguer Daylan Holt.

Major leagues

Pitching for the Sacramento River Cats, Valentine slumped to a 1–3 record and 4.82 ERA, and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds with minor leaguer Jeff Bruksch and Aaron Harang for José Guillén. In nine games with the Louisville Bats, he went 1–0 with a 0.79 ERA, prompting his promotion to the majors. Facing the Houston Astros on August 24, Valentine appeared in his first big league game, allowing one run in one inning of work. He appeared in two games in the majors in 2003, posting an ERA of 18.00. Overall in the minors, he went 2–3 with a 4.10 ERA.

Valentine had a poor year in 2005. In 16 major league appearances with the Reds, he went 0–1 with an 8.16 ERA. In 49 relief appearances with the Bats, he went 0–7 with a 4.70 ERA. Combined, he went 0–8 with a 4.22 ERA. He was granted free agency in December.

Signed by the Houston Astros, Valentine made 20 appearances with their Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express. With them, he went 1–2 with a 4.70 ERA. In June, he was released, and in early July he was picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers. In 22 games with their Double-A affiliate the Huntsville Stars, he went 2–0 with a 2.97 ERA, saving 13 games. Combined, he went 3–2 with a 3.84 ERA in 61 innings that season.

Despite pitching well during the second half of the 2006 season, Valentine was granted free agency by the Brewers. He was not picked up by any major league baseball team, so he went to pitch in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons (he never actually pitched for them; he pitched for their farm team). They released him in June, and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League picked him up. In 37 relief appearances with them, he went 4–2 with a 1.54 ERA, striking out 37 batters in 35 innings of work.

Valentine started the

External links

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