Jason Marquis
(1978 - )
Jason Marquis is a Jewish American professional baseball player.
Marquis (born August 21, 1978) was born in New York and grew up a Yankees fan in Staten Island. He attended Hebrew School as a youth and observed all the major Jewish holidays. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors.
Marquis starred in Little League Baseball on the South Shore Little League team that finished second in the US, and third in the world, in the Little League World Series in 1991. In 1996, his senior season of high school, Marquis received the Iron Horse Award as the top baseball player in the region as well as the New York Daily News Player of the Year Award, and was named 1st team High School All-American.
Originally intent on attending the University of Miami with a baseball scholarship, Marquis changed his mind after the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the first round, pick 35, of the 1996 draft. He signed with the Braves on July 18, 1996 for a reported $600,000 bonus.
Marquis quickly impressed the team through their minor league system and was eventually brought to the majors in 2000. Marquis made his first appearance in the majors in June 2000 and pitched his first start on May 12, 2001. On June 24, 2001, Marquis got his first major league win as a starter when he went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs in the Braves' 8-4 win over the New York Mets.
In December 2003, Marquis was traded by the Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals where he played for three season. He signed with the Cubs as a free agent in 2006 and was later traded in 2009 to the Colorado Rockies. Following the 2009 season, Marquis signed with the Washington Nationals, who traded him in 2011 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In December 2011, he signed with the Minnesota Twins; in 2012, he signed with the San Diego Padres.
Sources: Jews in Sports; Baseball Reference; Wikipedia