Jeff Bajenaru

Jeff Bajenaru achieved the dream of every little boy who has ever played baseball seriously – he made the big leagues. And while his time in the majors was short, derailed by injuries, he not only achieved the ultimate prize – being a part of a World Series champion – but he used his playing days as a springboard to a career as a pitching coach, a vocation that had him working in 2024 with the Triple-A Reno Aces.

Jeffrey Michael Bajenaru was born on March 21, 1978, in Pomona, California, about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The oldest of three children born to Ed Bajenaru, a firefighter, and his wife, Debbie, a teacher, Jeff was initially unhappy about his father initially signing him up for Little League.1 According to one story, at 8 years old he would hide under the table and refuse to play.2 Only when his father said he had to try it, that he had to play one season – at which point if he did not like it he did not have to play again, did he give it a try.3 In a telephone interview with the author, he acknowledged his initial reluctance, recalling that having never played before, and not being sure he would like it, he had very real reservations. But looking back, he said almost ruefully that it took no time at all for him to “absolutely fall in love with it.”4 He had found his passion, and through ups and downs it would be the centerpiece of his life for the next two decades.

As much as Bajenaru loved the game, the idea of playing in the big leagues was not something he initially imagined. He played high-school baseball at Senator Ruben S. Ayala High School in Chino Hills, a school that boasted an outstanding program. Indeed, Bajenaru recalled that in his junior year Ayala High was ranked number two in the country in preseason polls, a ranking it could not maintain but which nevertheless reflected both the team’s talent and the aspirations of the program.5 In the midst of such a talent-laden squad, Jeff, who had skipped the fourth grade, was an undersized but driven competitor.6 And displaying his characteristic approach to the game – “I would simply outwork everybody”7 – he responded to the challenge in fine form, crafting a solid career for a talented team. But in the end, while he aspired to win a college scholarship to continue his career, despite his best efforts he was “overlooked in high school and did not get any offers for anything.”8

Bajenaru was disappointed but he was also determined to continue playing baseball and so after graduating at age 17 in 1995, he walked on at the University of California, Riverside, making the team as an outfielder.9 However, before the season started, he hurt his shoulder, had to have surgery, and missed the season. Happily, he was able to play summer ball and with the extra year allowing him to get stronger, he transferred to Riverside City College.10 In the end a more mature Jeff Bajenaru took RCC by storm, turning in a performance that in 2015 earned him induction into the school’s hall of fame.11 In his two years at RCC, he hit .380 with 153 hits, 115 runs scored, 111 RBIs, 35 doubles, and 202 total bases. He was a critical cog in the team’s 74-24 record and one conference title.12 In addition he became a pitcher when, early in his sophomore year, while messing around throwing in the outfield he caught the eye of one of the coaches and the idea of his possibly pitching was born.13 Despite compiling a 1-1 record with 20 strikeouts in 10 innings, he never imagined that the experiment would become his ticket to the pros.14 But first there was the big-time college baseball to which he had long aspired. While his RCC record caught the attention of the Oakland Athletics, who selected him in the 13th round of the 1998 amateur draft, it had also attracted the attention of big-time college programs; and having finally gotten the scholarship offer he had long desired, Bajenaru opted to stay in school, heading to the University of Oklahoma.

The versatile right-hander crafted an impressive college career in Norman, Oklahoma, earning first team All-American honors as a utilityman as well as first team Big 12 honors as an outfielder while also being selected to the second team as a relief pitcher. He left Oklahoma having set both school and conference records for the most saves.15 At one point he converted 19 save opportunities in a row.16 While he had been selected by the White Sox in the 36th round of the June 1999 draft, he again opted to continue his education, returning to Oklahoma for his senior year, but in the aftermath of an outstanding 2000 collegiate season, Bajenaru signed with the White Sox before the 2000 draft. Comfortable with John Kazanas, the White Sox scout who had pursued him, and unsure of what the draft would yield, the admittedly “naïve” Bajenaru decided to take the sure thing and begin his professional career.17

While Bajenaru loved being fully involved in the game and missed hitting, as he embarked on his professional career it was clear that being a reliever represented the quickest route to the big leagues.18 In that quest, his first stop was the Bristol White Sox, Chicago’s Rookie League affiliate. The 6-foot-1 right-hander pitched in 12 games, all in relief, compiling a record of 1-1 with an ERA of 3.77 in 14⅓ innings. He struck out 31 batters while picking up five saves before he was promoted to the Winston-Salem Warthogs in the high A Carolina League. There Bajenaru posted a 2-0 record with two saves in 10 games out of the bullpen. In 12⅓ innings his ERA was 4.38 and he struck out 15.

Bajenaru returned to Winston-Salem for the start of the 2001 season and in 35 appearances he was 2-4 with 10 saves, an ERA of 3.35, and 51 strikeouts in 40⅓ innings. This performance earned him a promotion to the Birmingham Barons of the Double-A Southern League. But after only two appearances and 4⅓ innings, Bajenaru was shut down, had Tommy John surgery and missed all of the 2002 season. The 2003 season saw Bajenaru back in Birmingham where he turned in a performance that showed he had made a full recovery from the surgery. Appearing in 50 games and pitching 64⅔ innings, he went 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA, 62 strikeouts, and 14 saves.

While Bajenaru’s 2003 season reflected clear progress, he was nevertheless back in Birmingham at the start of the 2004 campaign. However, after chalking up 12 saves in 32 games with an ERA of 1.34 and 51 strikeouts, he was promoted to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights (International League). There he was no less impressive. He finished 15 of the 16 games in which he pitched while earning 10 saves in 20 innings with an ERA of 1.80. All of this led to a late season call-up by the White Sox.

On September 4, 2004, against the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field, Bajenaru made his major-league debut. Looking back, he remembered coming out on the field before the game, looking around the ballpark, seeing Ichiro Suzuki among others, and feeling “in awe of it all.” Like so many, making the majors was, he said, “always my dream, but I never thought it would happen.” Then it was game time, and sitting in the bullpen, every time the phone rang, he hoped it was for him. Finally, with the White Sox holding a commanding 8-4 lead, Bajenaru took the mound in the top of the ninth following Neil Cotts, who had surrendered one run in the top of the eighth in relief of starter Mark Buehrle. It was he said, “a dream come true,” but at the same time “kind of scary.” But once the first pitch was thrown, he recalled, it was no different from any other time. It all narrowed down to him and the batter.19

With his wife, Alysa, and his parents in the stands cheering him on, Bajenaru got off to a strong start, retiring the first batter he faced, Mariners shortstop José Lopez, on a groundout to the third baseman. But things quickly went awry as the number-nine batter, Willie Bloomquist, hit a groundball single. He was followed by Ichiro Suzuki, who grounded a single to right field that advanced Bloomquist to third. With runners on first and third, Bajenaru gave up a line-drive single to right to Randy Winn that scored Bloomquist while moving Suzuki to third base. Suddenly the Mariners had the tying run at the plate and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén brought in Shingo Takatsu from the bullpen in an effort to blunt the Mariners’ momentum and seal the victory. Takatsu struck out Mariners DH Edgar Martínez for the second out, but he walked Bret Boone to load the bases. Raúl Ibañez followed Boone and he lined Takatsu’s 3-and-2 pitch to right field, scoring Suzuki and Winn. However, the White Sox escaped with a victory when Boone was thrown out at third trying to advance after the runs had scored. For Bajenaru, a rookie too excited to notice that his name was misspelled on his first White Sox jersey, it was a memorable if inauspicious debut; he was charged with three earned runs in one third of an evening, leaving him with an ERA of 81.00.20

But now that he was on the major-league roster, Bajenaru had a number of chances to show he truly belonged. He pitched in eight more games, logging a total of 8⅓ innings and being charged with one loss, while reducing his ERA to a 10.80. He struck out eight.

With a taste of the big leagues behind him, Bajenaru wanted more but he started the 2005 season back in Charlotte. He was a stalwart for the Knights, pitching in 61 games and earning 19 saves while posting a 1.41 ERA with a 4-6 record. He pitched 70⅓ innings, striking out 83 batters and walking 29. This effort earned him a spot in the Triple-A All-Star game and a late-season call-up to the White Sox. He pitched 4⅓ innings of mop-up duty in four losses and had a 6.23 ERA as the White Sox finished 99-63 to lead the Central Division of the American League by six games over the Cleveland Indians. While Bajenaru was disappointed at not being on the postseason roster, he understood the realities of big-league baseball by this time in his career.21 In an effort to be better positioned for the future, he went to Mexico after the regular season to get in some additional work. He followed the postseason on Spanish-language television as the White Sox defeated the defending champion Boston Red Sox in the Division Series and the California Angels in the Championship Series before sweeping the Houston Astros in the World Series to claim their first World Series championship since 1917. He watched the World Series victory on a Mexican version of ESPN, joyful for his teammates and knowing that he was part of that championship team.22

For Bajenaru, the euphoria of being a part of a World Series championship team was tempered a bit when early in spring training, on March 8, 2006, as the White Sox prepared to defend their crown, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for infielder Alex Cintrón. But Bajenaru said he initiated a “good conversation” with White Sox GM Kenny Williams, letting him know that if he was not in the White Sox’ future plans he would appreciate being traded to a place where he might have more of an opportunity – and that was what happened.23 He was “appreciative of the trade” – one that could not have been easier since both teams shared the Kino Sports Complex, a multiple-use sports complex in Tucson, Arizona, for spring training. Bajenaru had to simply cross to the other side of the parking lot.24

It was an easy transition. He remained in Tucson after quickly switching teams and started the 2006 season with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, the Tucson Sidewinders. He pitched 80 innings in 52 games for Tucson with an ERA of 4.50 before getting a call-up during which he made what proved to be his final appearance in the big leagues, throwing a single inning on August 7 against the San Francisco Giants. Entering the game in the top of the sixth with the Diamondbacks leading 3-2, Bajenaru gave up four hits, three of them home runs, and four runs, to take the loss.

Bajenaru did not anticipate that the outing against the Giants would be his last effort. But unable to continue due to a rotator cuff injury and a torn labrum – injuries that he had tried to pitch through, but which resulted in having two surgeries as well as a third cleanup operation – he missed all of the 2007 season while undertaking a rigorous rehab program in hopes of saving his career.

It was not to be. He said his arm and throwing “never felt the same” after the surgery.25 At one point he took a bucket of balls and just went out to throw, wanting to just let it all go and see how it felt.26 But ultimately after the “long year of rehab,” with the hope that it would feel right and he could “come back, it was still hurting,” and he just walked into the Diamondbacks offices and told A.J. Hinch, the team’s director of player development, that he was retiring.27 In a professional baseball playing career that had spanned seven seasons, he had played parts of six seasons in the minor leagues, earning 79 saves with a 2.91 ERA and a 20-18 record. His major-league career, curtailed as it was by injuries, was significantly less robust as he appeared in just 14 games, spread out over three seasons. He pitched a total of 13⅔ innings, lost two games, and posted an unsightly ERA of 11.20.

Given how things had unfolded, the end of Bajenaru’s playing career came quickly and yet as he looked back, “it was a slow progression.”28 It was not easy, for while he recognized that physically he could no longer compete, he “was not ready to be done, [he] did not want to be done.” He had “hoped to play longer.”29 And while it was an end he knew would eventually arrive, he was unsure of what lay ahead. Almost a decade later he acknowledged that he still “didn’t kn[o]w if he knew what he was doing,” but unable to play, he nevertheless did know that he “wanted out of the game for a little while, at least.”30

Almost 30 years old, unsure of what the future held but with a growing family, after his retirement he got a job on the staff of the family’s church. Passionate about his faith, he thought the job was a way to give back while he tried to figure out what came next.31

He quickly discovered that he really enjoyed the work at his church, and recognized that “helping … kids live this difficult life” was not only something he found very rewarding, but that it was something he realized could also be done at the same time that he taught the game, “which I love.”32 The two-year hiatus away from baseball ultimately left Bajenaru, a rare player who loved the game’s history so much that he had, at the urging of the legendary baseball executive Roland Hemond, joined SABR while he was playing, anxious to get back into the game.33 He realized that not only did he miss the game a lot, but he came to feel that, while in working for the church he was, in a sense working for God, being out of baseball he was not doing what God had intended him to do, so he determined to see about getting back into the game.34 Looking back, both he and Alysa said it was “a weird two years” and Jeff and his wife, who had weathered the frequent moves alongside him, recalled that “being settled felt very unsettling.” After two years they were, in Alysa’s words, “ready to jump back in.”35 At the same time, they were grateful for the break, one during which their two children were born.

Once he decided to return to the game, Bajenaru began the search for an appropriate position and after a brief appointment as an assistant baseball coach and physical fitness instructor at his alma mater, Riverside City College, at the end of 2010, he joined the Diamondbacks organization, where as of 2024 he had been a pitching coach of one form or another ever since. His rise up the ladder has mirrored that of many young coaches and former players. Bajenaru did three stints on the back lots of the Arizona Summer League for the Diamondbacks before he was named pitching coach of the team’s Rookie League affiliate, the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League, at the start of the 2014 season, a post he held for two seasons with the team winning the Pioneer League championship in 2015. Bajenaru then spent three seasons (2016-18) with the Class-A Visalia Rawhide (California League) before moving to the Triple-A Reno Aces in 2019. While he lost the 2020 season when the schedule was canceled during the pandemic, he was back with the Aces in 2021, before moving to the Hillsboro Hops (High-A Northwest League) in 2022. He was back with Reno in 2023 and remained a part of their staff in 2024.

Central to his career is the fact that for Bajenaru professional baseball has always been a family proposition. Jeff met Alysa when they were both students at the University of Oklahoma but just a few weeks before he signed his first pro contract in the spring of 2000. They were married in 2002 just before Jeff headed to spring training, while Alysa finished at Oklahoma, earning her degree in nutritional science and starting work as a clinical dietician.36 However, when he began the 2003 season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, Alysa put her professional aspirations aside and jumped headfirst into the baseball world. A grateful Jeff, who unabashedly said that “she’s way smarter than me,” recognized the sacrifices she has made, observing that “she could be doing so many more things.”37 But she has happily been at Jeff’s side throughout his professional baseball odyssey, even at one point serving beer at the games in Birmingham where she had a beer stand on the stadium concourse, a location that allowed her to both watch the game and make additional money – enough in tips to pay their rent.38

A trained dietician, as well as a skilled photographer, Alysa has been nothing but a supportive baseball wife, but she has also recognized and worked to address some of the challenges that come with that life. In helping found the online community “Our Baseball Life,” she has sought to help others deal with those same challenges.39 The idea came to her when she was, as she remembered “sitting in nowhere, Montana, when I realized that I couldn’t be the only baseball wife or girlfriend feeling alone at that moment.”40 Acting on the thought, she started an Instagram account called WAGS in Real Life, designed “to connect women in baseball, and over the years it has grown into a vibrant community, a place to share stories and meet other women who get this life.”41 As the organization grew, she got help from Paige Murphy and in the late 2010s they joined forces with Lory Ankiel, who since 2010 had been running “Our Baseball Life,” a resource guide for professional baseball families in an effort to help serve this distinctive community.42

These efforts shine an even greater spotlight on the way that family has been a critical factor in Jeff and Alysa’s relationship from the start. With the early months of their marriage being a distance relationship they determined to try not do that again, vowing to sacrifice financially to stay together as best they can and as they have had children that has only reinforced their determination to stay together and do things as a family, whether it is Alysa’s home schooling the children when they were younger or now that they are living in Arlington, Texas, working to take advantage of their surroundings like visiting Sequoia when Jeff was with Visalia or simply going to visit him during the children’s spring break from school or during the summer. Their son has often joined Jeff on the field before the game and he has even had some time as a batboy, while Alysa and their daughter regularly attend games. Too, Alysa takes the kids on at least one road trip a year where they get to see Jeff as well as experience the area where the team is playing.

It is against this backdrop that Jeff Bajenaru pursues this second phase of his professional journey. His work as a coach has drawn praise and attention. After helping make the Rawhide staff statistically one of the best in the league in his second year, Bajenaru was named the 2017 California League Coach of the Year, an honor he also received in 2018.43 And it wasn’t just the locals who noticed his good work. Over the winter before the 2018 season, Bajenaru had an interview for the Philadelphia Phillies’ assistant pitching coach position, and he has subsequently interviewed with the Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers about MLB jobs.44 But he is not in a rush. In 2018 he stayed in Visalia, an area he was familiar with and enjoyed, and while he appreciated the interest from the Phillies, as well as the subsequent interest from other teams, he said he is no rush to move up, saying it was different from being a player when it was all about advancing to the next level.45 At the same time, he has no interest in moving in another direction. He says he once thought about it, but he has come to see that coaching pitching is his “niche.”46 While he admits he would love to be able to do it at the major league level, he says he finds it tremendously rewarding to be able to work with a young pitcher and help them take the next step towards achieving their dream. In fact, he says he had not anticipated the satisfaction that he says come from “the chance to see someone else get their dream.”47 And Jeff Bajenaru knows about dreams. While he “wishes his playing career had been longer,” the part of him that is still the 8-year-old who fell in love with the game, the kid who was able to not only achieve his big-league dream but also win a World Series ring has found that every time he gets to tell a young pitcher that he is being called up it is special. You can hear it in his voice as he notes, “to be a part of someone’s dream, there’s nothing like that!!” Jeff Bajenaru has clearly found his niche!

Last revised: March 1, 2025

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted baseball-almanac.com and Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Author telephone interview with Jeff Bajenaru, July 26, 2024; Unless otherwise indicated, all direct quotations attributed to Bajenaru come from this interview.

2 Ryan Chamberlain, “SABR Nine: Chicago White Sox’s Jeff Bajenaru,” December 22, 2005; https://sabr.org/latest/sabr-nine-chicago-white-soxs-jeff-bajenaru/; Bajenaru interview.

3 Chamberlain; Bajenaru interview.

4 Bajenaru interview.

5 Bajenaru interview.

6 Bajenaru interview.

7 Bajenaru interview.

8 Chamberlain.

9 Email, Jeff Bajenaru to author, August 12, 2024.

10 Bajenaru interview; email, Jeff Bajenaru to author, August 12, 2024.

11 “Jeff Bajenaru,” Riverside City College Sports Hall of Fame; https://www.rccathletics.com/alumni/hof/bios/Jeff_Bajenaru.

12 “Bajenaru,” RCC Sports Hall of Fame.

13 Bajenaru interview.

14 “Bajenaru,” RCC Sports Hall of Fame.

15 “Bajenaru,” RCC Sports Hall of Fame.

16 John E. Hoover “Bajenaru’s Breakdown Is Unusual,” Tulsa World, May 2, 2000.

17 Bajenaru interview; email from Rod Nelson, SABR Scouts Committee, September 24, 2024.

18 Bajenaru interview.

19 Bajenaru interview.

20 Sydney Daniel, “Touching Home with Alysa Bajenaru – Our Baseball Life,” AATB: All About That Base, July 14, 2020; https://allaboutthatbasedotcom.wordpress.com/category/interviews/touching-home/.

21 Bajenaru interview.

22 Bajenaru interview.

23 Bajenaru interview.

24 Bajenaru interview.

25 Bajenaru interview.

26 Bajenaru interview.

27 Benjamin Hill, “On the Road: Marriage, Kids and Baseball,” Milb.com, September 9, 2016, https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-200292520; Bajenaru interview.

28 Hill.

29 Bajenaru interview.

30 Hill.

31 Bajenaru interview.

32 Hill.

33 Email, Jeff Bajenaru to author, July 26, 2024.

34 Bajenaru interview.

35 Hill.

36 Hill.

37 Hill.

38 Hill.

39 See the website at Our Baseball Life.com.

40 Daniel.

41 Daniel.

42 Daniel.

43 Email, Jeff Bajenaru to author, August 12, 2024.

44 Vongni Yang, “Jeff Bajenaru Leads Visalia Rawhide’s Attack-Minded Pitching Approach,” Visalia (California) Times-Delta, April 5, 2018, https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/sports/2018/04/05/jeff-bajenaru-leads-rawhides-attack-minded-pitching-approach/484306002/; Bajenaru interview.

45 Yang.

46 Bajenaru interview.