James Calvin "Jimmy" Rollins (born November 27, 1978 in Oakland, California), nicknamed "J-Roll", is an All-Star and former MVP shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.

Though Rollins has developed into a five-tool player during his career due to significant increases in his power hitting, he is perhaps best known for his baserunning skills. He has stolen at least 20 bases every season since 2001, with a career high of 47 in 2008. This emulates Rollins' childhood baseball hero, Rickey Henderson.

Family and background

Rollins comes from an athletic family. He grew up watching his mother play competitive fastpitch softball, and credits the experience for helping him develop a cerebral approach to the game; he has been described as having "a near-photographic memory of games and at-bats and pitches".

Rollins also attended the same high school (Encinal High School) as Detroit Tigers pitcher Dontrelle Willis, and appeared in several MC Hammer videos in the late 80s. Currently, he is a resident of Woolwich Township, New Jersey, and is engaged to Johari Smith, his former trainer. They plan to wed in January 2010. World Series buzz: Rollins' celebrity girlfriend takes cake

Rollins' brother, Antwon, played with minor league affiliates of the Texas Rangers and the Montreal Expos. His sister, Shay Rollins, was a starter on the University of San Francisco's women's basketball team, and he is the cousin of former Major League Baseball player Tony Tarasco.

Professional career

Minor leagues

After being drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1996 draft, Rollins was assigned to the rookie-league Martinsville Phillies. He led the team in walks, batting only .238, but stealing 20 bases. However, he still earned a promotion to low-A Piedmont for the season. He had a better year at only 18 years old, leading the team in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, triples, stolen bases, and walks all in the same year. He batted .270, stole 46 bases, and had 560 at-bats, more than 100 higher than second-place Dave Francia.

 brought Rollins to a higher level of competition at high-A Clearwater. While playing alongside future Phillies teammates Pat Burrell, Johnny Estrada, Adam Eaton, and Brandon Duckworth, Rollins batted .244 with 18 doubles and 23 stolen bases, though he was the youngest player on the team by two years. Eaton, Burrell, and Rollins were all promoted to AA Reading together the next year, and Rollins led the team in games and at-bats, as well as hits. His 145 hits gave him an average of .273, and led to a late-season promotion to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he played four games. Leading Scranton in games played, doubles, and triples the next season, Rollins helped lead the team to the playoffs, where they defeated the Buffalo Bisons in the first round, but lost to Indianapolis in the finals. For his performance, Rollins was rewarded with a September call-up to the Phillies, where he batted .321 in 14 games, stealing three bases and batting in five runs.

Major leagues

2001: Rookie year

Coming into his rookie season of , there was a lot of hype surrounding Rollins and his blistering speed. Many Phillies fans were excited at the thought of having an up-and-coming leadoff man of his potential. He did not disappoint, delivering a league-leading 46 stolen bases that season. Rollins was also the Phillies' only representative at the 2001 All-Star game. He finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting, and was rated the 5th best rookie in the Major Leagues, third-best in the NL, by Baseball America.

2002

In , Rollins finished second among NL shortstops with a .980 fielding percentage, third in total chances (695), fourth in assists, (504) and fifth in putouts (226), while posting a .245 batting average. He led all NL shortstops in stolen bases and finished third in runs (82), fourth in hits (156) and walks (53) and fifth in doubles (33) and RBI (60). He was voted the starting shortstop for the NL All-Star team, and became the first shortstop in Major League history and first Phillie to make the All-Star team in his first two Major League seasons. He was named Best Defensive Shortstop in the NL and third-best NL Baserunner by Baseball America. He also participated in the MLB vs Japan All-Star Series in November in Japan.

2003

Rollins raised his batting average nearly twenty points from the year before in , while hitting 42 doubles and stealing 20 bases. He tied his career high in errors with 14, while making 204 putouts with 463 assists. In June, he had a nine-game hitting streak, his best of the season, and in September of that year, he stole his 100th career base against the Atlanta Braves.

2004

Accomplishments in Rollins' season included his third "quadruple-double," making him one of three players to accomplish this feat during the season, along with Tampa Bay Devil Rays OF Carl Crawford and Detroit Tigers SS Carlos Guillén; his three ten-game hitting streaks throughout the summer and fall months; and his first career grand slam, hit in the final game of the season against Florida. He also hit .289 with 14 home runs, including 2 inside-the-park home runs and the first one of his career. 43 doubles, 12 triples, and 119 runs scored rounded off his fourth full season in the majors.

2005: Beat the streak

The biggest highlight of Rollins' season came in August and September. Rollins hit safely in 36 straight games up to and including the last game of the season. This broke a franchise-record for longest hitting streak established in 1899 by Phillies legend Ed Delahanty. Rollins hit .379 during the streak, bringing his average for the season to .290. He also hit 38 doubles, 11 triples and 12 home runs, along with stealing 41 bases, to complete his fourth career "quadruple-double." He was also named to the National League All-Star Team.

2006

Though he extended his hitting streak to 38 games in the first two games of , Rollins struggled in the first half of the season (.259 AVG, .744 OPS, 9 HR, 40 K) while hitting leadoff, but went on a tear after the All-Star break (he was not invited to the All-Star Game) with a .319 AVG, .965 OPS, 18 HR, and 15 K's. He set the Phillies' franchise record for home runs in a season by a shortstop with 25, a record he would later break in 2007. Rollins and Chase Utley (who hit 32 home runs) became the first pair of middle-infielders in National League history to hit at least 25 home runs each in the same season.

2007: "The team to beat" and MVP

In January, Rollins stated: "The Mets had a chance to win the World Series last year. Last year is over. I think we are the team to beat in the NL East, finally. But, that's only on paper."

It became an instant sports media sensation, especially given that the New York Mets had won the division in 2006 with relative ease. The claim was widely reported, often without the second part of the quote ("only on paper").

Rollins and teammate Ryan Howard appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman early in the 2007 season, and he refused to back down from his prediction even as the Phillies began the season with a slow start. His first half numbers included a .286 batting average, with 53 RBIs and 16 home runs.

On June 28, Rollins had a four-hit game against the Cincinnati Reds, including a game-tying triple. The triple was Rollins' 10th, which gave him his fifth career "quadruple-double" (four statistical categories—home runs, stolen bases, doubles, and triples—in double figures in a single season). Two months later, Rollins was named the National League Player of the Week for August 27 to September 2, 2007. He recorded seven consecutive multi-hit games from August 26 to August 31 as part of an 18-for-32 stretch, and homered in back-to-back games on August 28 and 29 during the Phillies' four-game sweep of the Mets.

On September 25 against the Atlanta Braves, Rollins hit the home run that completed his 30–30 season. On the last day of the 2007 season, Rollins became the seventh player to collect at least 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, in one season (and only the fourth player to also have 20 stolen bases in that same year) when he hit his 20th triple of the year in a 6-1 win over the Washington Nationals that clinched the National League East division championship for the Phillies. The club would advance to the playoffs for the first time since their 1993 World Series loss; however, they had to play the Colorado Rockies, who ended the Phillies season in a three-game sweep in the NLDS.

Rollins completed his season by winning the National League Most Valuable Player award, beating out Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies and Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers. The 17-point voting difference between Rollins and Holliday for NL MVP was the closest since Atlanta Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton beat out Pittsburgh's Barry Bonds by 15 points in 1991. Rollins was the fourth switch-hitter (along with Pendleton, Ken Caminiti, and Chipper Jones) to win the MVP since pitcher Vida Blue in 1971. On November 26, Rollins made another bold prediction on his return to Philadelphia, stating that he expected the team to win 100 games and that they would go deeper into the playoffs next season.

2008: Defending the division title

Early on, Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran said that with the recent acquisition of Johan Santana, that he believed that the Mets would win the division. "So this year, to Jimmy Rollins, we are the team to beat." This was a knock-off of Rollins' prediction last year, and when he arrived in camp for the start of Spring Training, the reigning MVP responded: "There isn’t a team in the National League that’s better than us. The pressure’s back on them if you ask me. They were on paper the best team in the division last year and they were supposed to win, and they didn’t. One, there are four other teams in our division who are going to make sure that doesn't happen, and two, has anyone ever heard of plagiarism? That was pretty good, especially coming from him. He's a quiet guy, so it was probably shocking when he said it. Not shocking in a bad way, like 'Wow, I can't believe he said that.' More like, 'Wow, he finally said something because he's a leader on that team and you definitely need to be a vocal leader."

Rollins opened the year strongly, batting .308 through 12 games. However, on April 20, Rollins was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career after spraining his left ankle while trying to avoid being picked off during a game with the Mets two weeks earlier. Rollins returned to the starting lineup May 9, 2008, against the San Francisco Giants. In the game, Rollins went 3-for-5 with a 2-run home run and an RBI double in the 7–4 Phillies win. He went on to finish the month of May hitting .298 with 12 RBI and six steals. Though June was a weaker month for Rollins' hitting, he still hit three home runs, knocked in ten runs, and hit two triples. His offense became a spark in the Phillies' lineup in July as well, as he hit three triples before the All-Star break alone.

The Phillies proved Rollins' 100-win prediction correct, winning 92 games in the regular season and 11 in the playoffs as they capped the 2008 year off with a National League East Division title as well as a World Series Championship.

2009

In 2009, Rollins started the season unlike his previous season, and at one point was hitting so poorly that he was benched four games in June by manager Charlie Manuel in an effort to turn around his season. Towards the end of June Rollins was batting just .195 with a .237 on-base percentage when hitting leadoff, and through July 1 he had the lowest on base percentage (.250) in the major leagues. However, by late September, Rollins had raised his batting average to .250, hitting 21 home runs, 43 doubles, scoring 100 runs, and stealing 31 bases. In game 4 of the 2009 NLCS, Rollins hit the game-winning 2-run double against the Dodgers with one out left to win the game 5–4. However, Rollins' overall poor postseason performance continued, batting only .234 with an OBP of .306 and only 3 extra base hits in 64 at-bats. In the World Series, while his OBP went up to .345 his average dropped to .217.

Prior to the World Series against the New York Yankees, Rollins predicted on television that his team would win the match-up easily: "Of course we’re going to win. If we’re nice, we’ll let it go six. But I’m thinking five. Close it out at home". However, the Phillies lost the series 4–2, including successive defeats at home. Even after the series loss, he insisted that Philadelphia was the better team.

Statistics and achievements

Rollins was named the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player, and has been named to the National League All-Star team three times (2001, 2002, 2005). He also became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to collect at least 200 hits, 15 triples, 25 homers, and 25 stolen bases in one season, and holds the record for most at bats in a season with 716.

Rollins owns the longest hitting streak in Philadelphia Phillies history at 38 games, achieved from August 2005 to April 2006. His streak is the longest in the majors since 1987, when Paul Molitor hit safely in 39 consecutive games, and the longest in the National League since Pete Rose's 44-game streak in 1978. It is currently the eighth-longest streak in Major League Baseball history. Rollins donated the batting helmet he wore during the streak to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown following a request from the Hall of Fame to document the accomplishment.

Community

BaseBOWL Charity Tournament

Rollins hosts an annual charity bowling tournament that features teammates, celebrities and musicians. The money raised is used to help benefit the Arthritis Foundation. It is held at Lucky Strike Lanes in Philadelphia.

2008 presidential campaign

In 2008, Rollins campaigned for United States presidential candidate Barack Obama and introduced Senator Joe Biden and his wife at a rally in South Philadelphia.

"It's hard to explain, but some people just captivate you and that's what he does.

Obama seems like the right guy… Even though he supports the White Sox, I forgive him… It didn't strike me as strange to campaign for the guy who'll raise my taxes.

If raising my taxes a little helps America become a better place then I'm all for it.

You have to build from the bottom."

Music career

Rollins owns his own music label called Bay Sluggas, Inc.; the label's first signed group is "The League." Rollins said that two singles were expected to be released before the CD is out in January 2008, though these singles have failed to surface. Jimmy has also recorded his own original hip-hop track, entitled "Wish List," which was included on Major League Baseball's charity CD, "Oh Say, Can You Sing?"

See also

• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples records
• List of top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball players with 300 stolen bases

References

1. Jimmy Rollins Official Website - Philadelphia Phillies - Bio
2. Jimmy Rollins bio
3. Shryock, Bob. "Local took his shot at fame", Gloucester County Times, December 13, 2007. Accessed January 11, 2008. "A recent column about famous Gloucester County residents, sparked by Woolwich Township transplant Jimmy Rollins being named National League MVP, encouraged readers to submit their own nominations to the unofficial list of luminaries."
4. Jimmy Rollins Official Website - Philadelphia Phillies - Highlights
5. "Jimmy Rollins #11 SS"; retrieved 7 November 2009
6. "A Head Start on Rollins’s Prediction" The New York Times, November 29, 2009; retrieved 5 November 2009
7. "Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins: Phillies are still better than New York Yankees", New York Daily News, November 5, 2009; retrieved 6 November 2009
8. Horn, Bradford, "Documenting the Game's History Requires the Generosity and Support of Players and Teams", Memories & Dreams, (April-May 2007, Volume 29, Number 2), page 9.
9. Jimmy Rollins Official Website - Philadelphia Phillies - News
10. Jimmy Rollins Official Website - Philadelphia Phillies - News

External links

• Official website