Evan Gattis

Evan Gattis - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Evan Gattis

James Evan Gattis (born August 18, 1986) is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. Gattis has also earned the nickname of El Oso Blanco or The White Bear, due to his raw power capabilities when playing for the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. While with Atlanta, he played catcher and occasionally left field.

This profile of Evan Gattis covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, Draft and minor leagues, Atlanta Braves (2013–2014) and Houston Astros (2015–2018).

Gattis was a premier amateur baseball player in the Dallas–Fort Worth area through high school. But anxiety and substance abuse led him to abandon his scholarship to Texas A&M University. After wandering around the Western United States for four years, he returned to baseball, and was drafted by the Braves in 2010.

After playing in minor league baseball for the Braves, Gattis made the team's Opening Day roster in 2013. Receiving playing time with Brian McCann on the disabled list, Gattis won the National League Rookie of the Month Award for both April and May 2013. He became the Braves' primary catcher in 2014, but was traded to the Astros before the 2015 season. He later won the 2017 World Series with the Astros over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Early Life and Family Background of Evan Gattis

Evan Gattis was born in Dallas, Texas, on August 18, 1986. He was raised in Farmers Branch, Texas, and began playing baseball at the age of six. His parents divorced when he was eight years old, and at the age of 15, he moved to Forney, Texas. Busy playing baseball, Gattis never processed his parents' divorce.

Gattis played for the Dallas Tigers, one of the premier amateur teams in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber and Yovani Gallardo were some of his teammates. He played on traveling All-Star teams with Austin Jackson and in the Junior Olympic Games with Billy Butler, Homer Bailey, and Justin Upton. He attended high schools in the Dallas area, including R. L. Turner High School, Forney High School, and Bishop Lynch High School, to play for specific coaches.

Projected as a potential draft pick in the first eight rounds of the 2004 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, Gattis instead intimated that he intended to attend college and play college baseball. While Rice University offered him a scholarship to play first base, he accepted an offer from Texas A&M University, who wanted him to play as their catcher. But the divorce of his parents and anxiety derived from the fear of failing at college baseball led Gattis to abuse alcohol and marijuana. He went undrafted in the 2004 draft.

Instead of going to college, Gattis's mother took him to a drug rehabilitation facility, where he had a 30-day inpatient stay. He then went to Prescott, Arizona, where he had three months of outpatient therapy while living in a halfway house.

Career and Rise to Fame of Evan Gattis

Gattis enrolled at Seminole State College, a junior college in Seminole, Oklahoma, after receiving a recruitment phone call from the team's coach. Gattis redshirted as a freshman and played for half a season in 2006. He injured his knee at Seminole State, which led to him quitting baseball and dropping out of college.

Gattis's first job after quitting baseball was as a parking valet in Dallas. He then visited his sister in Boulder, Colorado, and decided to reside there. He sold his truck and worked in a pizza parlor and as a ski-lift operator at the Eldora Mountain Resort. Depressed, unable to sleep, and even contemplating to take his own life, Gattis was admitted to an inpatient psychiatric ward for three days in the summer of 2007, where he was diagnosed with clinical depression and an anxiety disorder. He was released into the care of his father.

After living in Colorado for seven months, Gattis then moved to Dallas with his brother, where they worked as janitors for Datamatics Global Services. He met a New Age spiritual advisor there, and on her advice, he followed her to Taos, New Mexico. There, he lived in a hostel and worked at a ski resort. Three months later, he moved to California to find more spiritual gurus. Gattis also moved to Wyoming, where he worked at Yellowstone National Park.

Gattis decided to return to baseball in 2010. His step-brother, Drew Kendrick, was a college baseball player at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and prominent "Busy Day Soup" chef. Brian Reinke, the coach of the Texas–Permian Basin Falcons, remembered Gattis from his high school career, and offered him a spot on the team. That season, he had a.403 batting average and 11 home runs. He was named the Heartland Conference's player of the week for the week ending February 7, and to the Conference's post-season first team.

Draft and minor leagues

The Atlanta Braves selected Gattis in the 23rd round of the 2010 MLB draft. He batted.288 with four home runs in 35 games for the Danville Braves of the Rookie-level Appalachian League that year. He failed to make the opening day roster of any Braves minor league team in 2011, and remained in extended spring training. He was added to the roster of the Rome Braves of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL) in May. Gattis won the SAL player of the week award twice during the season, and won the SAL batting title. After the season, the managers of the 14 teams in the SAL named Gattis to the post-season all-star team.

Gattis started the 2012 season with the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. After starting the season with a.385 batting average, nine home runs, and 29 runs batted in (RBIs) in 21 games, he was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Class AA Southern League at the end of April. With Brian McCann starting for the Braves and top prospect Christian Bethancourt regarded as an excellent catcher, Gattis was shifted to left field. After the regular season, he played in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he batted.303 with 16 home runs and a.595 slugging percentage in 53 games, leading the league in home runs and slugging percentage. He earned the nickname El Oso Blanco, Spanish for "the White Bear".

The Braves invited Gattis to spring training in 2013 as a non-roster player. With a 19-for-53 (.358) performance in the Grapefruit League and McCann starting the season on the disabled list, the Braves added Gattis to their Opening Day roster to share catching duties with Gerald Laird.

Atlanta Braves (2013–2014)

On April 3, 2013, Gattis made his major league debut. He recorded his first hit as a major leaguer, a home run off of Roy Halladay, in his second at bat. He batted.333 in his first eight games, also homering off of Stephen Strasburg. Gattis was named the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month for April 2013, in which he batted.250 and led all major league rookies with six home runs, a.566 slugging percentage (SLG), 16 RBIs, and 43 total bases.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Gattis), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.