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PERSONAL:
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Colvin says he owes his baseball career to his grandfather, Jerry Colvin. And in his home in Augusta, Ga., Jerry Colvin has every one of Tyler's jerseys framed, every trophy he's ever won, every baseball card. Someday, when Tyler has his own home, he'll be given all the souvenirs to put in his den. Jerry, who is known to the Colvin family as "Pap," will have the memories.
Jerry doesn't have to look far to be reminded of those days when he and Tyler played catch on the gravel, and he insisted on telling this story.
"I would pitch to him from behind a screen," he said. "One time I left my foot out, and he hit a line drive that hit me on the end of the toenail, and it drove it back into my toe. That was in 2000. Every time I look down at my toenail, it reminds me of Tyler."
"I'm going to write a book one day," Jerry said. "It's a dream come true for him and us, too. He's the first one from this small town to make the Major Leagues."
Tyler got to the Major Leagues because of his grandfather, who helped raise the young outfielder, taught him the game and schooled him on life.
"He's my dad," Tyler said. "And my best friend. When I talk to my uncle, he's like, 'Yeah, I talked to Dad the other day—oh, I mean Granddad.' That's the way it is. He raised me and he raised my uncle, too. That's the way I look at him. I believe he feels that way toward me, too."
Tyler's father deserted his family about a year after Tyler was born, and Jerry and his wife, Cece, took in Tyler and his mother, Tricia. Early on, Tyler made his future intentions very clear.
"He told me in either the fifth or sixth grade, he said, 'Pap, I'm going to play Major League ball someday,' " Jerry said. "You hear a kid say that and say, 'OK' and don't think much of it. He must have meant it." (Carrie Muskat-MLB.com-6/15/10)
- Tyler's mother says, "Nothing about (Tyler) accepts failure. He has the drive to be the best no matter what he's doing."
- Colvin showed power (13 home runs) and speed (23 stolen bases in 27 attempts) while leading Clemson to the College World Series.
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Tyler grew up about 150 miles east of Atlanta, but he doesn't claim to be a Braves fan. In fact, Colvin followed all major league teams and modeled himself after a lefthanded gap hitter who used to play at Wrigley Field.
"I liked Mark Grace when I was growing up," Tyler said. "I loved his smooth swing." (Jim McArdle-Vine Line-July, 2006)
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Tyler was not drafted out of high school. For seven consecutive weekends, Colvin and his grandfather drove to various campuses, visiting Tennessee, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Clemson, among others. Clemson coach Jack Leggett talked to Colvin.
Leggett didn't need any pitchers—he wanted Tyler's bat in the Tigers' lineup. So Tyler became a first baseman. But, as Jerry says, Clemson added an All-America first baseman who "ran like he had a piano on his back." So Tyler became an outfielder.
And Jerry was the proud grandfather, watching his kid from the stands.
"I did go to 186 consecutive Clemson baseball games," Jerry said. "He didn't play a game at Clemson that I didn't see in person."
Clemson coach Jack Leggett said of Colvin: "He was always athletic and aggressive, and he was extremely coachable and teachable—always in a good mood. Me loved being around the baseball field."
- In 2006, Colvin tied for second in the Northwest League with 53 RBIs. He ranked third with 29 extra-base hits and 50 runs scored. His six triples led the league.
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During the winter before 2007 spring training, the Baseball America rated Tyler as the 4th-best prospect in the Cubs organization. And they moved him up to #3 in the Cub farm system before 2008 spring camp opened.
But, in the spring of 2009, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Colvin much farther down—at #16 in the Cubs organization. And they had him at 17th-best in the winter before 2010 spring training.
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In September 2009, Tyler was having chicken and dumplings with his grandparents at the Cracker Barrel, not far from the Knoxville airport, after his Double-A Tennessee Smokies team was eliminated from the Southern League playoffs.
Meanwhile in St. Louis, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry had just made the unusual move of suspending outfielder Milton Bradley for behavior the GM believed was detrimental to the team. Another outfielder was needed and Colvin got the call at the Cracker Barrel.
"I was eating lunch near the airport waiting to go home," Colvin said. "I got the call there and they said to hold off. I was very surprised. I wasn't expecting anything after a long season. We got to the championship round of the playoffs and I thought that was all the baseball for me.
"My grandparents took me back to the hotel," he said. "They took me shopping for some nice clothes for the trip. It was great."
The next night, he picked up his first Major League hit and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly against Milwaukee.
- In 2010, Colvin became the fourth rookie in Chicago Cubs' history to hit 20 home runs, joining Hall of Famer Billy Williams (25 homers in 1961), Geovany Soto (23 in 2008) and Walt Moryn (23 in 1956) in the Cubs' record books. Williams and Soto both won National League Rookie of the Year honors in their first full seasons.
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On November 6, 2010, Tyler and the former Molly Carliss were married in Pittsburgh, Pa. The newlyweds relocated three weeks later from Souther Carolina to Arizona, where Tyler could work out every morning at the Cubs' spring training complex in Mesa.
They have a dog, Mya, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog that was born in 2008.
TRANSACTIONS
- June 2006: Colvin signed with the Cubs for a bonus of $1.475 million after they drafted him in the first round, out of Clemson. Antonio Grissom is the scout who signed him.
- December 8, 2011: The Rockies sent Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers to the Cubs, acquiring Colvin and INF D.J. LeMahieu.
- January 18, 2013: Tyler and the Rockies agreed on a $2.275 million contract for 2013, avoiding arbitration.
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January 15, 2014: Colvin signed with the Orioles. But 9 days later, the team reneged when they found a back issue during his physical.
That was the second time during the same offseason that a physical caused the O's to back off of a player. The club opted to not sign closerGrant Balfourafter agreeing to a two-year, $15 million deal. Seth Levinson, Balfour's agent, claimed that his client was healthy and that the Orioles had simply decided against signing him. Levinson cited the findings of two doctors who found nothing out of order after looking at an MRI of Balfour's right shoulder.
- February 22, 2014: The Giants signed Tyler Colvin to a minor league contract.
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January 3, 2015: Colvin signed with the Marlins organization.
April 3, 2015: Tyler was released by the Marlins.
May 2, 2015: Colvin signed with the White Sox organization.
- June 24, 2018: Tyler was released by the Dodgers.
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BATTING:
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- Colvin has a smooth, easy lefthanded swing. He can hit for both average and power, showing very good bat speed. He should end up hitting about 20-25 home runs per season.
- Tyler has a very good hitting approach. He stays in well against lefthanded pitchers. He will spread out and try to protect the strike zone with two strikes. But, too often, he gets too aggressive and chases balls out of the strike zone. He needs to tighten his strike zone.
As he learns to lay off high fastballs and refine his free-swinging approach, Colvin figures to hit for average as well, because he has quick hands and the ability to drive the ball with authority to all fields. He squares the ball up on the barrel of the bat quite well.
- Colvin has learned to let the ball travel deeper in the zone and trust his quick hands to power the ball. He stays inside the ball well, though Colvin has yet to pull inside pitches on a consistent basis. For now he's more content to line doubles the other way.
He needs more patience and drop his tendency to roll over on pitches and hit soft grounders.
- Colvin has a reputation as being quite a clutch hitter.
- "Tyler hits lefties well, he hits in the clutch, he handles righthanders with velocity. His only Achilles' Heel right now seems to be soft-tossing righthanders who keep him off balance. But he will face less and less of those types of pitchers as he moves up the ladder," Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken said.
And a scout with an AL team said, "I think (Colvin) probably profiles as a No. 2 hole hitter that will do all the little things for you and still show you enough power to hit 10 to 15 homers a year out of that slot. He's got a nice, easy line-drive stroke, and I like him.
"But his pitch recognition has to get better. He swings at a lot of bad pitches out of the zone, especially breaking balls." (Walter Villa-Baseball America-7/19/07)
SEASON BY SEASON
- In 2007, Colvin drew just 15 walks in 125 games. More advanced pitchers exploit his anxiousness, a remnant of having to cheat to catch up to good fastballs as an amateur. He handles velocity now but has trouble with offspeed stuff, and he must learn to trust his hands. He's content to serve balls to the opposite field, though he'll have more power once he gets stronger and pulls more pitches. (Jim Callis-Baseball America-11/19/07)
- July 31–August 2, 2009: Tyler tied a Southern League record by going a perfect 11-for-11—a streak that came to an end with a pair of line-drive outs—to lead the Tennessee Smokies to three straight wins. Colvin homered twice, doubled, drove in six runs and scored five times.
Mississippi's Matt Young set the record during the 2008 season.
- As of the start of the 2013 season, Colvin's career Major League stats were: .247 batting average, 44 home runs with 150 RBI's in 1001 at-bats.
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