In the small town of Monroe, Georgia sports were a way of life for most children and Jason Helmsley was no exception. From the time he could walk baseball was a part of his life. The plastic bat, ball and tee ball stand he got for his third birthday never left his sight. From there he moved onto backyard pickup games with whiffle balls and old phonebooks being used as bases. When Jason turned six his parents signed him up for little league and his love for the sport grew larger. He found himself in a position behind the plate, large protective gear covering his small frame to the point you could barely tell it was even him under it all.
He excelled at the position, though the first couple of seasons there wasn’t much action for him besides throwing the ball back to the pitcher, nothing like the physical aspect that faced him once he hit the traveling team circuit. Summers were spent in the back of minivans traveling around Georgia with broken or dislocated fingers, skinned and bruised knees and thighs and even a broken toe or two. But through it all his love for the sport never wavered, the pain that came along with his chosen position only pushed him to compete harder.
Life threw Jason a curve ball when he was thirteen and his parents announced his dad’s job was taking them out of Monroe and all the way to the west coast and Santa Monica, California. The idea of leaving behind the only place he had ever known, the friends he had grown up playing first playing backyard and street ball then little league and traveling teams with didn’t sit well with Jason. He begged his parents to let him stay behind despite not having a plan of action for where he’d stay if they actually ever agreed to do so. But it did no good and Jason found himself sitting in the backseat of his parent’s Volvo as they drove out of Monroe for the last time.
Despite his parents’ best efforts Jason refused to join any baseball team once they settled in to their new home of Santa Monica. It was one thing to be the new kid at age six when no one really knew what they were doing besides what they had learned watching MLB teams on tv but to be thirteen and starting on a new competitive team with everything to prove Jason wasn’t having that. It wasn’t until his freshman year of high school that he found himself back on the field after a talk with his former coach in Monroe convinced him to give the sport another shot.
Through his years in the sport Jason had played a number of different positions whenever it was asked of him and high school was no exception. He was an All-State shortstop and pitcher in his senior year, the month of March he hit .700 while posting a 5-0 record with a 1.00 ERA. His senior year he was also named AISA Player of the Year after hitting .515 with 21 doubles, six triples, four home runs and 54 RBIs.
After high school Jason found himself moving back across the country to attend Auburn University. Jason played an extraordinary two years of baseball for the university. In 2005 he hit .294 in 47 games, starting 39 of them all at third base, with seven home runs. He was selected to the NCAA All-Region Tournament Team at third base. On the team he hit .500 with 2 home runs and seven RBIs. The next year he hit .276 while leading the team in home runs (10) and finished second in RBIs (42), doubles (16) and runs scored (39). He was one of only two players on the team to play in all 56 games, starting 36 behind the plate and 20 at third base. As the team’s catcher he threw out 15 of 38 base stealers, a third-best in the SEC and had seven pickoffs from behind the plate, the most by any Auburn University catcher since 1997.
Jason spent the summer of 2006 as an all-star catcher in the Cape Cod League. He hit .302 for the Harwich Mariners and drove in 21 runs with a team-best four home runs. His batting average was fifth-best in the league, his 11 doubles were third and his 15 extra base hits were second in the league.
Jason was selected in the first round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He played four games with the rookie team and 49 with the team’s Short-A team batting .335 overall with nine home runs and 35 RBIs. Jason spent the first part of the 2008 season with the team’s single A club in Peoria. In July of 2008 Jason was part of a trade involving himself, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson going to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. At the time of the trade Jason was batting .217 with six home runs and 23 RBIs. He finished out the season with Oakland’s advance A team batting .330 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs.
2009 and 2010 saw Jason still in the minor leagues. He spent 2009 with the Double-A team in Midland before moving up to Triple-A in 2010. On April 30, 2010 Jason was called up to the majors for the first time when the team’s everyday catcher went onto the disabled list with an intercostal strain. He made his debut the same day as a pinch hitter and struck out in his only at bat. A day later on a first pitch Jason got his first major league hit, a 2-run home run. He spent 14 games with the club, batting .156, before being sent back down to the Triple-A team in Sacramento.
Despite his best efforts Jason didn’t see any major league action in 2011. On a club with multiple catchers who could be considered starters Jason got lost in the shuffle. He spent the whole season in Triple-A batting .261 with 17 home runs and 70 RBIs.
Prior to the start of the 2012 season Jason made his conversion from catching to playing third base due to an ACL injury to the projected opening day starter, Scott Sizmore. Jason spent the first part of the season as the everyday third baseman for the club. But he struggled in his role and was ultimately sent back down to Triple-A as the team signed Brandon Inge to a deal on April 29. He found himself recalled back to the majors in mid-August after Inge suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. During this stint with the club Jason was able to prove he was more than capable of being an everyday starter. The team made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 highlighting their run with a three game sweep over their division rivals, the Texas Rangers, during the final three games of the season. The team overcame a 5 game deficit in the last nine days of the season to claim first place in the American League West. The team faced off against the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series but lost in game five of the series ending their playoff run short.
Jason continued to flourish in 2013; another ACL injury to Sizmore opened the door for him. He hit his first career walk-off home run on April 12 against the Tigers; it was also the first walk-off win for the club in 2013. On June 7th Jason hit his first career grand slam against the White Sox. Fans were shocked and outraged to learn he had been left off the all-star team for the year and though Jason played in down in the media and clubhouse he was particularly disappointed that all his hard work over the first part of the season had basically gone unnoticed by everyone outside the 510 area code. He continued to play well after the all-star break, his only focus on helping his team bring home a fifth golden trophy to the fans. Just as it had played out the prior season the Athletics were pitted against the Tigers in the American League Division Series. Despite their best efforts the team once again saw themselves on the losing end of a game five heartbreak. Though he knew he had no chance to win he was still pleasantly satisfied to finish fourth overall in the AL MVP voting.
As the 2014 season starts Jason is looking forward to having a season on par with his previous one and getting past the ALDS hurdle his team has struggle against for the past two years in hopes of finally bringing back a World Series trophy to the 510.
