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'.227 wow. {{short description|American baseball player}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Jim Traber |position=[[First baseman]] |image=1987 Rob Broder Rookies Jim Traber.jpg |bats=Left |throws=Left |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1961|12|26}} |birth_place=[[Columbus, Ohio]] |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 21 |debutyear=1984 |debutteam=Baltimore Orioles |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=October 1 |finalyear=1989 |finalteam=Baltimore Orioles |statleague = MLB |stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]] |stat1value=.227 |stat2label=[[Home run]]s |stat2value=27 |stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]] |stat3value=117 |teams= * [[Baltimore Orioles]] ({{mlby|1984}}, {{mlby|1986}}, {{mlby|1988}}–{{mlby|1989}}) * [[Kintetsu Buffaloes]] ({{npby|1990}}–{{npby|1991}}) }} '''James Joseph Traber''' (born December 26, 1961)<ref name="Cube">[http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=18986 Jim Traber] at thebaseballcube.com</ref> is an American former [[professional baseball]] [[first baseman]], who played in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) for the [[Baltimore Orioles]] and in [[Nippon Professional Baseball]] (NPB) for the [[Kintetsu Buffaloes]]. After retiring from baseball, he pursued a career in [[Broadcasting|broadcast media]]. Traber was born in [[Columbus, Ohio]], but grew up in [[Columbia, Maryland]].<ref name="About">[http://jimtraber.com/about.htm About Jim] at jimtraber.com</ref> While attending [[Wilde Lake High School]] in Columbia, he was an All-American — playing [[American football|football]], baseball, and other sports. Traber attended [[Oklahoma State University]] in the early 1980s, where he played both baseball (appearing twice in the [[College World Series]])<ref name="About"/> and football.<ref name="Mexico"/> Traber was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 21st round (544th overall) of the [[1982 Major League Baseball draft]].<ref name="Reference">[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/trabeji01.shtml Jim Traber Stats] at [[Baseball-Reference.com]]</ref> and played parts of four seasons for the Orioles between 1984 and 1989,<ref name="Reference"/> where his nickname was "'''The Whammer'''".<ref name="Rosenthal">[http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-19/sports/sp-2185_1_jim-traber?pg=1 "Jim Traber Finds Comfort a Long Way From Home"] by [[Ken Rosenthal]] at [[latimes.com]]. Retrieved August 3, 2009</ref> During the biggest slump of his career for Baltimore, Traber found success by switching to a V-neck jersey. He soon found himself on a career-best hot streak that saw him crank out six [[Home run|homers]] and 17 [[runs batted in]] (RBI), while [[Batting average (baseball)|hitting]] .340, in his first 13 games, after being recalled in the summer of 1986.<ref name="Post">{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1986/08/02/dodd-traber-hit-home-runs-in-orioles-7-3-win/d0380c1c-78d2-43b6-af3a-92c7d398121f|title=Dodd, Traber Hit Home Runs in Orioles' 7-3 Win|date=August 2, 1986|last=Justice|first=Richard|publisher=[[The Washington Post]]|work=washingtonpost.com|access-date=March 8, 2020}}</ref> Traber's success with Baltimore was hindered by unfortunate timing — as veteran first baseman, [[Eddie Murray]], wasn't ready to retire and Traber was anxious to play in that position — and he had not received any instruction as an [[outfielder]] in [[Minor League Baseball]] (MiLB), as his [[Manager (baseball)|manager]] [[Earl Weaver]] lamented.<ref name="Post"/> Thus, Traber’s options were limited to being a [[Substitution (sport)|reserve]]-first baseman, [[Designated hitter|DH]], and [[pinch hitter]]. After his MLB career, Traber played baseball in [[Japan]] for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1990 and 1991, and one season for [[Sultanes de Monterrey|Monterrey]] of the [[Mexican League (baseball)|Mexican League]] in 1993.<ref name="Mexico">{{cite web|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/okst/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/08mediaguide-sectionA.pdf|title=Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame Bios|access-date=March 1, 2010|author=Oklahoma State University}}</ref> His time in Japan is perhaps most memorable for an incident in which Traber rushed the mound subsequent to being hit by a pitch, chasing the retreating [[pitcher]] into the outfield at the [[Sakigake Yabase Baseball Stadium|Akita Yabase Baseball Stadium]]. After charging the pitcher a second time, he was knocked off balance by the [[catcher]] while running and was kicked in the face on the way down by the manager, [[Masaichi Kaneda]]. Grainy footage of this incident is still widely distributed on the Internet.<ref name="Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSrRxHhfHKc Traber Charging Mound] at youtube.com</ref> Traber’s involvement with sports talk radio began after his retirement from professional sports. He served as a television [[color analyst]] for [[Fox Sports (USA)|Fox Sports]]' regional coverage of the [[Arizona Diamondbacks]] during the team's World Series victory season of 2001, for which he was awarded a [[Championship ring|World Series ring]]. Traber was also part-time color analyst for the [[2001 World Series]] radio broadcast. He can be heard cheering in celebration behind [[Greg Schulte]] during the famous play-by-play call of "A little blooper... Base hit! Diamondbacks Win!" for [[Luis Gonzalez (outfielder, born 1967)|Luis Gonzalez's]] game-winning hit. Traber continued announcing in 2002 and 2003.<ref name="About" /> Currently, Traber hosts "The Afternoon Sports Beat" and "Total Dominance Hour," shows on [[WWLS-FM]] radio station in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]].<ref name="Schedule">[http://jimtraber.com/schedule.htm Radio Schedule], at jimtraber.com</ref> He sometimes refers to callers as Yardbirds. Traber is most well-known for losing to "Radio Legend", "World Champion at FreeCell" and "King of the midgets" Al Eschbach every Friday at music. Traber had a long standing bet with other Sports Animal hosts that [[Tiger Woods]] will never win another major, which he would end up losing when Woods won the [[2019 Masters Tournament]] on April 14, 2019. List of known arch enemies: Those Pigs in the Morning (The Morning Animals), Danica Patrick ==Trivia== Traber sang the [[National Anthem]] at [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Memorial Stadium]] the night of his MLB debut.<ref>1987 Topps baseball card # 484</ref> Also famous for losing the judges vote to Morning Animals co-host Phil Inzinga in the great Oklahoma lasagna bake off iof 2017 ==References== <references/> ==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=t/trabeji01|fangraphs=1013150|retro=T/Ptrabj001}} *[https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jim-traber-1.html College Football Statistics] {{Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback navbox}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Traber, Jim}} [[Category:1961 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan]] [[Category:American football quarterbacks]] [[Category:American television talk show hosts]] [[Category:Arizona Diamondbacks announcers]] [[Category:Baltimore Orioles players]] [[Category:Baseball players from Ohio]] [[Category:Kintetsu Buffaloes players]] [[Category:Hagerstown Suns players]] [[Category:Major League Baseball broadcasters]] [[Category:Major League Baseball first basemen]] [[Category:Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball players]] [[Category:Oklahoma State Cowboys football players]] [[Category:People from Columbia, Maryland]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio]]'