Jason Childers

Jason Lee Childers

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6', Weight 160 lb.
• School Kennesaw State University, Carl Albert State College
• High School Westside High School
• Debut April 3, 2006
• Final Game April 21, 2006
• Born January 13, 1975 in Statesboro, GA USA

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Biographical Information

Jason Childers pitched five games with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He is more notable for having been a rodeo performer during his baseball career, not doing so under a fake name like Madison Bumgarner.

Undrafted out of college (he was 12-0 with a 2.01 as a senior and made the Baseball America NCAA Division II All-America team), Jason began his career in the Milwaukee Brewers system with the 1997 Helena Brewers, going 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA, two saves and 25 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings and outperforming his brother, Matt. The dynamic brother duo remained intact with the Beloit Snappers, where Jason again was the top performer at 8-6 with a 1.92 ERA. He led the Midwest League in ERA but did not make the MWL All-Star team. In 1999, Jason only was 2-8 with a 3.56 ERA for the Stockton Ports, but struck out a batter per inning and had a 6.64 K/BB ratio. He also had a 1.38 ERA in three starts for the Ogden Raptors. Childers was rejoined by his brother in 2000 and again had the better season, striking out 177 in 157 1/3 innings and going 12-10 with a 3.49 ERA. The Mudville Nine pitcher tied Juan A. Pena for the California League lead in strikeouts and was 10th in ERA.

At age 26, Childers had a 7-6, 2.87 line for the Huntsville Stars, again a teammate of Matt's. Back in the bullpen in 2002, Jason was 1-1 with a 2.10 ERA for Huntsville and 2-3, 4.61 with the Indianapolis Indians while Matt made it to the majors despite again being outperformed by his brother. In 2003, the right-handed hurler had a fine year in AAA (5-4, 10 saves, 2.29) for the Indians but was not called up to Milwaukee. After starting the next year 1-0 with 15 saves and a 1.26 ERA with Indianapolis, he was dealt with Jason Belcher to the Montréal Expos for Peter Bergeron and Saul Rivera. Assigned to the Edmonton Trappers, he lost all three decisions, had a 4.50 ERA and saved five games. A minor league free agent after the year, Jason joined brother Matt in the Richmond Braves bullpen and again was the top performer of the two, with a 1-2, 16 saves, 2.09 year as the closer. Signing with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he made the team out of spring training and was 0-1 with a 4.70 ERA in five relief appearances before returning to the minors, where he went 2-3 with two saves and a 4.99 ERA for the Durham Bulls. He hung around in Triple A for three more seasons, finishing his career in the Mexican League in 2010.

Jason is the brother of Matt, Scott and Terry Childers, Jr.. He is the son of Terry Childers.

Primary sources: 1998-2006 Baseball Almanacs