Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979, in
Westminster, California) is a Major League Baseball
player for the Texas Rangers.
Laird was originally a second round draft choice of
the Oakland A's in 1998, and was traded to the
Rangers before the 2002 season, along with Ryan
Ludwick, Jason Hart, and Mario Ramos, for first
baseman Carlos Pena and pitcher Mike Venafro. Laird
won the Rangers' starting catching job in spring
training in 2004, but after dislocating his thumb in
a home plate collision in May, 2004, ended up on the
disabled list and lost his starting job to Rod
Barajas. After spending most of the 2005 season in
AAA, Laird took over as the backup catcher for the
Rangers in 2006. In 2007, Laird will be given the
opportunity to be the starting catcher again. The
Rangers' new manager, Ron Washington, took a special
interest in Laird during spring training, and told
Laird that he should "be more vocal and voice [his]
opinion on pitches."
He attended La Quinta High School and then went on
to play college baseball for Cypress college.
Gerald's younger brother, Brandon Laird was drafted
by the New York Yankees and is currently in their
farm system.
On April 18, 2007, Laird was the final out in
Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle's no-hitter.
Laird grounded out to White Sox third baseman Joe
Crede to complete Buehrle's bid.
In 2007, he had the lowest fielding percentage of
all major league catchers, .984, and the lowest
range factor among AL catchers, 6.84.
