Vernon Wells
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Vernon Wells (born December 8, 1978 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a Major League Baseball player.
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Early Years
Wells was born in Shreveport but grew up in Arlington, Texas, where his family moved in 1988. During a Little League practice he was smacked in the face with a groundball, a misfortune that led to him becoming a centerfielder. In 1993, Wells entered Arlington's James Bowie High School where he starred as a quarterback on the football team and as an outfielder on the baseball team. In his senior year, he batted .565 with 7 home runs and 20 RBI.
Early Career
Wells was drafted in the 1st round (5th pick overall) of the 1997 amateur draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and spent several years as a top prospect in the Blue Jays organization. From 1999 through 2001, Wells was a regular September call-up and played in 57 games. The organization pegged him as the center fielder of the future.
Major League Career
In 2002, Wells was given his first chance to be an everyday player. Although disqualified from Rookie of the Year contention because he had exceded the 130 career major league at-bat limit to qualify as a rookie (the award went to teammate Eric Hinske), Wells proved himself to be one of the top rising stars in the game. He batted .275 with 23 home runs, 100 RBI and 87 runs while asserting himself as one of the most fluid centerfielders in the game. Some Toronto commentators described it as the quietest 100 RBI season a Blue Jay player had ever had.
In 2002, Wells' star continued to rise. Although his production slowed toward the end of the season, he finished the season with a .317 batting average, 33 home runs, 117 RBI and 118 runs. He led the league with 215 hits, 49 doubles, and 373 total bases and finished 8th in American League MVP voting. He also participated in his first All-Star game. In 2004, Wells won his first Gold Glove Award.