Sonny Gray, like many other athletes before him, started out with more than one sport in mind. He was an award-winning baseball and football player in college. His professional career started with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball in 2011, but it took him some time to claim a spot on the Athletic team.
Since then, this North American Tennessee has continued to win awards like the American League Pitcher of the Month. He was nominated for the MLB All-Star Game in 2015. In 2017 he was acquired by the New York Yankees.
Sonny Gray Bio (Age)
The Yankees Pitcher was born Sonny Douglas Gray in Nashville, Tennessee on November 7, 1989. He was raised in Nashville and then Smyrna.
The start of his high school career was illustrious, to say the least. He played multiple positions in his freshman year and was awarded Freshman of the Year in District 9AAA. After minor injuries limited his action in his sophomore year, he bounced back and helped his team win the 2007 state tournament, earning himself a National Player of the Year nomination and a spot in the AFLAC All-American High School Baseball Classic.
His senior year of high school was again cut short by injury, but saw him record a .79 ERA, go 4-0, and beat a .500 home plate average.
Sonny Gray was also revealed to be the quarterback for his school’s football team that won back-to-back 5A state titles in 2006 and 2007. The Tennessean named Sonny Gray Gatorade Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons (2007 and 2008) in recognition of his overall athletic contribution.
Career and trade
After high school, Gray honored the verbal commitment he made to Vanderbilt University by turning down the Chicago Cubs in the 2008 MLB Draft.
He focused on his game as a pitcher in college and won the starter role late in the season. Over the years, he continued to improve his ERA with each season and had the most strikeouts (113) on the team for 2010. He broke his own record in his third year with 132 strikeouts, helping the team earn a berth in the College. World Series for the first time in their history. They also reached the semi-finals of the tournament.
After his junior year, Sonny Gray left college and joined the Oakland Athletics when he was selected 18th overall in the 2011 MLB Draft. He joined the double-A ranked Midland RockHounds shortly after signing for Oakland. This led to a stint with the Sacramento RiverCats.
His first game for the team came in the 2013 season against the Pittsburgh Pirates after which he made one more appearance before he was back on a minor league side. His first major league start was on August 10 against the Toronto Blue Jays, he eventually became a mainstay on the team as the team’s fifth starter. He finished the campaign with 67 strikeouts, 64 innings and a 2.67 ERA in 12 appearances.
Gray made the opening day roster in the 2014 campaign. He rewarded his coach’s playing time with outstanding contribution in April, hitting his first full shutout in the process. Sonny was named AL Pitcher of the Month in April and July. He got the team into the playoffs for the third time with a win over the Texas Rangers on the final day of the season.
Sonny Gray was named again in his second consecutive game opener. He finished the season with a 14-7 record, 2.73 ERA and was rewarded with a berth in his first All-Star Game, but he sat out the game as he had started a game a for Oakland on Sunday before the All-Star was scheduled to show. At the end of the campaign, Gray was the second runner-up for the Cy Young Award.
Sonny’s 2016 was a disastrous year judging by the results he posted in the previous campaign. In 2016, he landed on the disabled list twice, finishing the season with a 5.69 ERA and a 5-11 record.
His time with Oakland finally ended on July 31, 2017, when the pitcher was traded to the New York Yankees, with Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian heading in the opposite direction.
Salary and net worth?
The ace thrower earned a whopping $1.54 million signing bonus when he joined the Oakland Athletics in 2011. He also earned $527,500 for his troubles in the 2016 season. He found himself with $3.6 million for 2017, his first season with the Yankees, and it’s only increased since.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the pitcher’s net worth stands at $7 million.
Does Sonny Gray have a wife?
Gray had been dating his girlfriend, JessicaForkum for a while when they welcomed their first child, a son they named Gunnar Carmack Gray. Jessica hails from Smyrna, Tennessee and was born on July 7, 1988 to her parents, Patricia and Gregory Forkum.
On November 12, 2016, Sonny and Jessica tied the knot in his home state of Tennessee. Some of his former and current teammates attended, including Josh Phegley, Billy Burns, Stephen Vogt and Scott Kazmir.
Height, Weight and Other Facts About Sonny Gray
- Gray stands at a respectable height of 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and weighs 192 pounds (87.1 kg).
- He experienced tragedy early in his life. As a young boy still trying to start his sports career, he lost his father in a car accident. It happened early, during his freshman year of high school. He had just started playing baseball for Smyrna High School when the tragedy happened.
- Turns out, back in high school, pro-pitching wasn’t all about sports. He participated in other extracurricular activities like drama. He was chosen to play Troy Bolton in his school’s stage adaptation of the famous Disney film. Musical High School
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