He, his wife Shani and sons Tyler Mason (10/6/04) and Samuel Chase (8/9/07) reside in Salem, SC in the off-season...All-Colonial Athletic Conference as a relief pitcher during his freshman season at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1996...posted a 6-2 record, 4.19 ERA and eight saves in 21 games on the mound...he hit .333 (68x204) with 34 runs, 15 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 41 RBI and six stolen bases...Played for Wayne in the Shenandoah Valley League during the summer of 1996...hit .322 (39x121) with 26 runs, four doubles, three triples, three home runs, 14 RBI and nine stolen bases...Was an All-Colonial Athletic Association selection as both a shortstop and relief pitcher during his sophomore season in 1997...batted .343 (62x181) with 47 runs, 10 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 42 RBI and nine stolen bases...Named to the Cape Cod League's all-star squad during the summer of 1997 after hitting .265 (40x151) with 14 doubles, five home runs and 19 RBI for Bourne...Selected as the Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Year as a junior in 1998 as he led his team to its second straight league title...All-Colonial Athletic Association as a relief pitcher in 1998...posted a 5-2 record, 2.09 ERA and 11 saves in 23 games...batted .330 (70x212) with 68 runs, 21 doubles, five triples, 15 home runs, 61 RBI and 21 stolen bases...Led the conference with 68 runs, five triples and 11 saves as a junior in 1998...Named a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America in 1998...Batted .335 with 28 homers and 144 RBI over his three-year career at VCU...Inducted into the Virginia Commonwealth University Athletics Hall of Fame on December 11, 2004...Had his high school jersey uniform number seven retired by Brookville High School in Lynchburg, VA in 2006...Actively participates with Tigers Dreams Come True, the Detroit Tigers Autographed Memorabilia Donation Program and the P.L.A.Y. Campaign (Promoting a Lifetime of Activity for Youth -- a program of Major League Baseball and the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society), visited and interacted with patients at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital along with his wife Shani, serves as a spokesman and actively supports the annual Susan G. Komen Detroit Race for the Cure with his wife Shani, served as a spokeman for Major League Baseball's Father's Day program to support the Prostate Cancer Foundation and participated in the Tigers Winter Caravan...Recommended/signed by Rob Guzik for the Tigers.

Completed his eighth season with the Tigers in 2008, showing his versatility as he saw action at four positions: catcher (60 games), third base (51 games), left field (two games) and center field (13 games)...Played in 113 games for the Tigers, marking his fewest with the club since he played in 104 games in 2003...Did not commit an error in his first 110 games of the season March 31-September 26...Sidelined June 23-July 10 with a pulled oblique -- saw action in three games with Triple A Toledo during an injury rehab assignment July 7-9, batting .300 (3x10) with a home run and four RBI...Became the Tigers primary catcher following the trade of Ivan Rodriguez to the New York Yankees on July 30 -- started behind the plate in 33 of the club's next 42 games before returning to third base...Batted .238 (43x181) with eight home runs in 60 games at Comerica Park...hit .169 (28x166) with three home runs in 53 games on the road...Second among all American League catchers with 11 passed balls.