Gerald Laird is a professional baseball player who made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers on April 30, 2003. He was tabbed a first team All American in 1988 following his senior season at La Quinta High School in Westminster, California and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics. He initially held out for more money and in 1999 attended and played for Cypress Junior College in Cypress, California. He was eventually signed by the Athletics later that year and assigned to the Low-A Southern Oregon Timberjacks, where he appeared in 60 games.

Prior to the 2002 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers along with Ryan Ludwick, Jason Hart and Mario Ramos. In return, Oakland received Carlos Pena and Mike Venafro.

Gerald, his wife Kelly and daughter Berlin Elizabeth make their off-season home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Laird both throws and bats from the right side of the plate.

Gerald broke Spring Training and headed north with the Detroit Tigers as part of their 25 man active roster. He retained his role as the starting catcher for the Bengals for a second straight year, with a good Spring Training.

Through his first 8 starts behind the plate, Gerald was hitting .148 and had produced only 1 RBI. He was also struggling to throw out base-runners; a combination of pitchers failing to hold runners close to bases and Gerald not getting the ball to the bases as quickly as he had done in previous seasons.

Not up to his normal standards for defensive play, manager Jim Leyland and the coaching staff are hoping he quickly comes out of the slump that has affected both his hitting and usually stalwart defensive play. If not, look for Rookie backup Alex Avila to begin seeing more action.

June 03, 2010 - On June 05th Gerald was told by Manager Jim Leyland that he would be seeing less playing time as rookie Alex Avila would be given a chance to prove himself. At the time Laird was hitting .154 in 117 at bats and had driven in only 6 runs.

2009 Season

Prior to the start of the season, Gerald was traded to the Detroit Tigers from the Texas Rangers for minor league pitchers Carlos Melo and Guillermo Moscoso. Gerald was inserted by the Detroit Tigers as their starting catcher and finished the season with a .225 batting average, 4 home runs and 33 RBIs in 413 at bats. Laird led all American League catchers in fielding percentage at .997, and was tabbed the second best defensive catcher in the American League by Baseball America. He also possessed the highest percentage of throwing out base-runners attempting to steal in the American League.

2008 Season

Gerald was the primary catcher for the Texas Rangers, appearing in 95 games. He swung the bat at a .276 clip and drove home 41 runs. He was Sidelined from June 21st through July 26th with a left hamstring strain.

2007 Season

Laird played for the Texas Rangers and saw his usually stellar defense become an issue. He had the lowest fielding percentage of all major league catchers, .984. He posted a .224 batting average, with 9 home runs and a career high 47 RBIs.

2002 Season

He was traded from the Oakland Athletics along with Jason Hart, Ryan Ludwick and Mario Ramos, to the Texas Rangers for Carlos Pena and Mike Venafro.