J. T. Wise

Jeremy Tyler Wise (born June 2, 1986) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher and first baseman in minor league baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Wise attended Louisiana State University and later the University of Oklahoma. At both, Wise played baseball and won multiple accolades over his four-year combined stint. In 2009, Wise won the Johnny Bench Award, an annual award given out to the nation's best college catcher. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft and started his professional career in their organization with the rookie-league Ogden Raptors.

Amateur career High school Wise attended Apopka High School in Apopka, Florida. He played catcher, pitcher, and infielder. Wise was also an honor roll student in the classroom. With the Mariners, he batted .261 with 16 RBIs in 29 games played.

University of Oklahoma Wise transferred from Louisiana State University to the University of Oklahoma. He later stated that he transferred to Oklahoma so that he would get a chance to play catcher more often than he had at Louisiana. On the season, Wise batted .278 with 66 hits, 18 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 49 RBIs in 60 games. In 2009, his senior and final season in college baseball, Wise played 61 games with the Oklahoma Sooners. He batted .359 with 75 hits, 13 doubles, 17 home runs, and 62 RBIs. On May 19, 2009, it was announced that Wise was named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Wise was also named to the first-team All-Big 10, second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, first team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and was a semi-finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Professional career Wise was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. Logan White, the assistant general manager for the Dodgers, stated that Wise was drafted so early because "...how he swings his bat and goes about the game, and he's hard-nosed, and I'd love to get him in the system." With the Lookouts, he primarily played first base. He was in 121 games and hit .278 with 9 homers and 70 RBI. He played with the Venados de Mazatlán in the Mexican Winter League during the off season. In 2013, with the Lookouts, he hit .245 in 106 games. He was released by the Dodgers in April 2014.

He subsequently signed with the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. He hit .297 in 47 games for Wichita before he was signed to a minor league contract by the Texas Rangers, who assigned him to the AA Frisco RoughRiders.

Personal Wise was born on June 2, 1986, in Orlando, Florida, to Sonny and Mary Wise. J.T. Wise has one older brother, Nicky; and one older sister, Stacy. Wise's father, Sonny, was his baseball coach at Apopka High School. Wise is the great-nephew of former New York Yankees second baseman and 1960 World Series MVP Bobby Richardson.