Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury was on born September 11, 1983 in Madras, Oregon. He is the first Native American of the Navajo Tribe to play in Major League Baseball. Ellsbury was initially drafted out of Madras High School by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 23rd round of the 2002 Amateur Draft, but declined to sign. His senior year in high school saw him hit .430 and drive in 20. He attended Oregon State University, playing three seasons for the Beavers and hitting .365 with 16 home-runs and 101 RBIs in 160 total games. While at OSU, he established himself as a prolific base-stealer with 60 steals, and showed considerable defensive prowess, posting a .990 fielding average (4 errors in 387 chances.

Jacoby Ellsbury also established several records while at Oregon State, most career runs-scored (168) and most hits in a single season (99). Ellsbury was also successful academically at college, receiving a Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention in 2004 along with being selected to the All-Pac-10 First Team and Baseball America's Mid-Season Sophomore All-America Team.

Ellsbury played in the Cape Cod League for the Falmouth Commodores in 2004 and was officially drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2005. He began his professional career on July 14, 2005, with the Lowell Spinners in the Single-A New York Penn League. He showed the potential of his speed and base-running ability when he led off by walking, stole second, went to third on a throwing error, and finally scored on a wild pitch.

Jacoby Ellsbury is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes and is known for his philanthropy. A zinfandel wine produced in his name through Charity Wines donates 100% of its proceeds to three different charities: The Navajo Relief Fund, Project Bread: The Walk for Hunger, and Ellsbury Read Project.

In his first 30 at-bats in 2010, Jacoby Ellsbury went 10-for-30, scoring 6 runs, batting in one and stealing 2 bases. The signing of free agent center fielder at the beginning of the year Mike Cameron combined with the release of left fielder Jason Bay saw Ellsbury put in the starting left field position. Although a natural center fielder, Ellsbury gained experience playing left during the 2007 play-offs before moving Coco Crisp out of the center slot. Cameron’s lack of experience in the left field position and experience at center was a major factor in placing Ellsbury in the left field position.

Ellsbury bruised his ribs in a collision with teammate Adrian Beltre while they chased a foul ball in a game against Kansas City on April 11. Following x-rays and after extensive discussion the Red Sox chose not to place him on the DL (Disabled List).

The 2009 season started off well for Jacoby Ellsbury, with the month of April being especially memorable. Ellsbury started the month by breaking Mike Greenwell’s outfielder’s record for consecutive error-less regular-season games by producing his 179th clean sheet. Three days later he passed Coco Crisp for most errorless chances for a center fielder setting a Red |Sox record of 433. Ellsbury capped off the month with a “pure steal” against Andy Petitte and the New York Yankees on April 26th. A pure steal is when a runner on third steals home base independently—not as part of a double steal, squeeze play, bunt, or any other play.

May saw Jacoby Ellsbury tie the Major League record for put-outs by an outfielder when he managed twelve in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on the 20th. “My legs felt a little tired,” Ellsbury said afterwards. “I was just happy we were getting quick outs. Brad's a fly-ball pitcher and when he's getting the flies that means his pitch count's down [and] he's doing everything he needs to do.” http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290520102

Ellsbury also excelled offensively, leading the Majors and setting a Red Sox single-season record with 70 stolen bases while finishing among the American League leaders in triples (T-1st, 10), multi-hit games (4th, 59) and hits (T-7th, 188). Career highs came for Jacoby Ellsbury in 2009 in the way of most at-bats (624), hits 188), doubles (27), triples (10), RBI (60) and walks (49). He capped off his season by establishing his highest ever full season batting average of .301.

Baseball America ranked Jacoby Ellsbury No. 13 in its Top 100 Prospects in 2008. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2008/265655.html Ellsbury started in centerfield for the season opener against the Oakland A’s on March 25. The game took place at the 55,000 seat Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, the Red Sox winning the game 6-5 in extra innings. Ellsbury had a quiet game, going 1-for-4, but it wouldn’t take long for him to get into top gear.

His first 30 games of the season saw him bat .321, and he finished the season going 56-for-178 and a .315 average in his final 44 games. He hit safely in his final 18 games, and finished the year with a respectable .280 average, which included 22 doubles, 9 home-runs, and 47 RBI. Jacoby’s 50 steals were the most by a Red Sox player for 35 years and were the 3rd most in the majors that year.

Defensively Jacoby Ellsbury continued to shine. His performance in center field was stellar, not committing a single error in 140 games and finishing with a 1.000 average, the first rookie ever to do so.

The Post Season saw the Red Sox breeze by the LA Angels 3 games-to-1 in the American League Division Series, Ellsbury going 6-for18 with 6 RBIs. One of his hits, in the second inning of the third game against LA was the first 3 run single in post-season history. Ellsbury’s bat cooled off in the ALCS against Tampa Bay Rays and he ended the season going 0-for14, the Red Sox going down 4-3 to Tampa.