Player Profile: Grant Balfour

I have one card of Grant Balfour, from 2011 Topps Update.

Playing career: Grant Balfour originally came up with the Twins in 2001, and also pitched briefly for the Brewers before being traded to Tampa Bay in 2007, where he emerged as a star set-up man. He has had only one season with an ERA over three in the past five years.

Where he is now: He was traded to Oakland before the 2011 season and is now their closer. This season he is 2-2 with 18 saves and a 2.92 ERA. He pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save in Oakland's 3-2 win over Baltimore last night.

My memories: I remember him with Tampa Bay and hadn’t remembered that he had gotten traded to Oakland.

Interesting facts: Many closers come out to Metallica music, but Balfour is a rarity in picking the song One, which, as this video shows, leads to some awesome reactions by A's fans.

Google Autocomplete results: He is second when you type Grant B, between Grant Bowler, an actor, and Grant Boxing Gloves, a boxing glove manufacturer. There do not appear to be any other prominent Grant Balfours.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Jeff Ballard.