Blake Gailen

Blake Shane Gailen (born March 27, 1985) is a left-handed professional baseball outfielder, for the Lancaster Barnstormers, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

In high school, Gailen was first-team All-West Valley League in California in his junior and senior seasons. He played baseball for Glendale Community College, where he was All-Western State Conference as a freshman and All-Southern California Team as a sophomore. He played summer ball for the Fayetteville SwampDogs, and was a Coastal Plain League All Star during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

In 2011 Gailen won the American Association batting title with a .406 batting average, a new league record, while playing for the Lincoln Saltdogs. In 2012, he was named the Atlantic League Most Valuable Player as well as Baseball America's Independent League Player of the Year, and starting All Star in left field, after batting .338 (winning his second consecutive league batting title) with 22 home runs, 89 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases for the Lancaster Barnstormers. In 2014, he was named to the Atlantic League's All-Star team.

He has played in AA for the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2011 and 2015, and in AAA for the Los Angeles Angels organization in 2013. Through 2016, Gailen had played 988 games over 10 seasons, and batted .306 with 124 home runs in aggregate. Gailen played for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in March 2017.

Gailen was born in Verdugo Hills, California, to Scott and Charlene ("Char") Gailen, and grew up in West Hills, California. He has an older sister named Jenni. Gailen is Jewish. He and major league infielder Josh Satin—also a member of the Israeli national baseball team—have been friends since they were children, and Gailen attended Satin's bar mitzvah. Asked about his height, Gailen said: "I like to say, 5-8¾."

He played baseball in high school for El Camino Real High School in Woodlands, California, where Gailen pitched (throwing a no-hitter as a senior, and going 19-4 his last two seasons) as well as played outfield and hit, graduating in 2003. He was first-team All-West Valley League in his junior and senior seasons. He went un-drafted after high school.

Gailen played baseball in college first for Glendale Community College (graduating in 2005), where he was All-Western State Conference as a freshman and All-Southern California Team as a sophomore. He played summer ball for the Fayetteville SwampDogs during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, both pitching and playing outfield, and was a Coastal Plain League All Star both seasons.

He then played for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels baseball team, where Gailen was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on February 12, 2007, and graduated with a degree in Communications in 2007. He went un-drafted after college.

Gailen was signed in 2011 and 2015 by the Los Angeles Angels. He has also played in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, which signed him in 2013, Mexico and Venezuela.

Gailen began his professional career in 2007 with the minor league baseball independent team the Anderson Joes of the South Coast League, batting .368/.455/.526 in 42 games. On July 28, 2008, playing for the Wichita Wingnuts, he was named the American Association Batter of the Week.

In 2009, Gailen batted .355 with the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League, and was the youngest batter in the top 10 in batting in the league. In 2010, he batted .387. (finishing 2nd in the league to Larry Bigbie in batting average)/.480 (3rd in the league)/.603 for Chico, and was a league All Star.

In 2011, he won the American Association batting title with a league-leading .406 batting average, a new league record, while playing for the Lincoln Saltdogs. He played center field and batted leadoff for the Saltdogs, and also led the league in on-base percentage (.479) and slugging percentage (.622).

Gailen was then signed to a minor league contract by the Los Angeles Angels in July 2011, and played for the AA Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League, replacing Mike Trout who had just been called up. In 29 games, playing right field primarily, he batted .208.

In 2012 Gailen was named the Atlantic League Most Valuable Player as well as Baseball America's Independent League Player of the Year, and starting All Star in left field, after batting .338 (winning his second consecutive league batting title, and setting a team record)/.415 (leading the league)/.534 with 22 home runs, 89 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases for the Lancaster Barnstormers.

In August 2013, he was signed to a minor league contract by the Toronto Blue Jays, as Gailen was leading the Atlantic League in doubles and walks while playing in 113 games for the Lancaster Barnstormers. He played in eight games for Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, batting .286. He then played in 46 games for the Venados de Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific Winter League.

In 2014, playing again for the Lancaster Barnstormers, Gailen was named to the Atlantic League's All-Star team, and for the season batted .350/.460/.646 with 18 homers, 52 RBIs, and a 1.107 OPS. Manager Butch Hobson said: "This guy is one of the best, if not the best, players in the league." He also played 51 games for Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League, batting .271/.385/.537 with 11 home runs. He then played 22 games for Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League, and 19 games for the Venados de Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific Winter League.

In 2015, he started the season again playing for the Lancaster Barnstormers, and after 44 games was again signed to a minor league contract by the Los Angeles Angels. In June 2015 the Angels again signed Gailen to a minor league contract and assigned him to the AA Arkansas Travelers, and that month he was Player of the Month for the Travelers, for whom he played in 76 games during the season.

In 2016, he played in 48 games for the Lancaster Barnstormers after off-season surgery. He became the Barnstormers' all-time home run leader, with 63, was second on the team's career list in runs (269), hits (462), and doubles (95), and was tied for second with 243 RBIs.

In 2017, Gailen was back with the Lancaster Barnstormers.

Gailen played for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier. After not playing in the first game, he was a late-inning defensive replacement in the second game, but did not bat. Gailen started the third game in center field, and hit a two-run home run in the 5th inning, while walking twice and scoring an additional run.

Gailen played left field for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic main tournament, in March 2017. He said: "it was the best experience of my life, there’s not even a question."