Lyle Overbay

Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977) is an American former professional baseball first baseman.

Overbay was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 MLB draft.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers from 2001 through 2014.

Overbay attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he played college baseball for the Nevada Wolf Pack baseball team.

While playing in the farm system, he was named Diamondbacks minor league player of the year in 2001.

Overbay made his Major League debut on September 19, 2001.

Overbay appeared in two games, getting one hit out of two plate appearances during his brief stint in the majors in 2001.

He was also part of the Diamondbacks' postseason roster to serve as a backup first baseman and eventually won the World Series over the Yankees.

During the 2002 season, Overbay played mostly in the minors and only played in 10 games in the majors.

Overbay first played with the Diamondbacks as the full-time first baseman in 2003.

He played in 86 games, batting .276 with four home runs and 28 RBI.

He was sent down to Triple-A Tucson in June, but was called up in September to be part of the 40-man roster expansion.

He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers during the off-season.

Overbay was acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers on December 1, 2003, in a trade that sent Richie Sexson and Shane Nance to Arizona for Overbay, Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey, Chris Capuano, Chad Moeller, and Jorge de la Rosa.

During the 2004 season, Overbay batted .301 with 16 home runs, 87 RBI, and a major league-leading 53 doubles.

In 2005, Overbay hit 19 home runs, surpassing his 2004 total of 16.

On July 23, he had a career high 6 RBI against the Cincinnati Reds, hitting two home runs, including a grand slam.

This feat was also the most in a season by a Brewer.

He played very well against the Reds, batting .431 with six home runs and 18 RBI.

He was traded to the Blue Jays in the off-season.

He was a fan favorite in Milwaukee.

When Overbay stepped up to plate, fans would do the "O chant."

Fans would raise their hands over their heads in an "O" symbol – some brought cardboard cut outs of the letter "O" – and would chant a prolonged "O" sound to honor Overbay.

Overbay said of the chant, "The "O" chant doesn't break my concentration. Sometimes it gets me too pumped up because I want to come through and give the fans something to cheer about, instead of just chanting. But overall, I think it's cool that I get that treatment from Brewers fans."

On December 7, 2005, Overbay was traded from the Brewers along with pitching prospect Ty Taubenheim to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for outfielder Gabe Gross and pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Jackson.

Although the trade was acknowledged as a needed acquisition for the Blue Jays, Overbay did not have the statistical impact hoped for, at least beyond 2006.

On July 5, 2006, Overbay was named American League Player of the Week after hitting .423 and hitting four home runs during the week of June 26 to July 2, 2006.

In 2006, he had a career season, batting .312 with 22 home runs, 92 RBI and 181 hits, which were all career-highs.

He also had 46 doubles, which was tenth among the major leagues.

From 2007 to 2008, Overbay statistically trailed Bush in the sabermetric categories wins above replacement player and value over replacement player.

On January 15, 2007, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Overbay to a four-year contract, buying out his final two arbitration-eligible years, and his first two years of free agency, with a $24 million contract.

On June 4, 2007, Overbay was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox.

The pitch was a high and inside fastball that ran in and hit him in the hand, resulting in a fracture that was estimated to sideline him for four to six weeks.

He was on the disabled list until July 12, 2007, rejoining the Blue Jays after the All-Star break.

After his return, he struggled at the plate, especially with hitting for power.

Overbay set a new team record on May 25, 2008, by reaching base in his 12th consecutive plate appearance after walking on a full count in the second inning.

The previous record holder was Tony Fernández who reached base 11 straight times.

That season, he was criticized by fans for his penchant to ground into double plays.

He finished 2008 tied for seventh overall in this category, with 24.

Overbay is also one of only 15 players to hit into an unassisted triple play, serving up Asdrúbal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians on May 12, 2008.