About Matt Joyce (baseball)
Matthew Ryan Joyce (born August 3, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2008 and 2021, he played for eight MLB teams, most notably the Tampa Bay Rays, with whom he was named an MLB All-Star in 2011. Raised by a single father in Tampa, Florida, Joyce frequently attended Rays games at Tropicana Field as a child. The Detroit Tigers attended an exhibition game that Joyce played with Florida Southern College and selected him in the 12th round of the 2005 MLB draft. Joyce debuted with the Tigers in 2008 and was traded to the Rays the following season. After five years in St. Petersburg, Florida, Joyce was traded to the Los Angeles Angels, where his performance suffered after a 2015 concussion. After stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, and Atlanta Braves, as well as minor-league appearances for the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants, Joyce signed a one-year deal with the Miami Marlins in 2020. There, he helped Miami reach their first Major League Baseball postseason appearance since 2003. Joyce retired from professional baseball after a stint with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2021, becoming a sports analyst for the Rays. He was the first rookie position player for the Tigers to win the award since Tony Clark in 1996. On April 9, Joyce hit his first major league home run, a solo shot off of Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second inning of a 4–3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.