Jason Bartlett

Jason Alan Bartlett is a professional baseball shortstop currently playing for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born October 30, 1979, in Mountain View, California.

Bartlett made his MLB debut on August 3, 2004 with the Minnesota Twins. On August 6, 2006, Bartlett captured his first "5-hits" record in an 11-5 victory game against the Kansas City Royals.

With the Twins, Bartlett was famous for being one of the 4 "Piranhas" in the Twins lineup, batters known for running speed and small ball. During the 2006 season, all four piranhas - Jason Bartlett, Nick Punto, Jason Tyner, and Luis Castillo - hit between .290 and .312, but only hit a total of 6 homers.

The term was coined by Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen:
"All those piranhas -- blooper here, blooper here, beat out a ground ball, hit a home run, they're up by four. They get up by four with that bullpen? See you at the national anthem tomorrow. When I sit down and look at the lineup, give me the New York Yankees. Give me those guys because they've got holes. You can pitch around them, you can pitch to them. These little guys? Castillo and all of them? People worry about the catcher, what's his name, Mauer? Fine, yeah, a good hitter, but worry about the little [guys], they're on base all the time."

On October 22, during Game 1 of the 2008 World Series, Bartlett stole a base in the 5th inning following a double by Akinori Iwamura. Subsequently, he earned for the millions of baseball fans across the country a free taco from Taco Bell, as part of its "Steal A Base, Steal A Taco" World Series promotion. This prompted a new nickname in his behalf : "Taco Bell Kid".

Bartlett married Kelly Chevez on November 15, 2008. They have a son, Jayden Bartlett, born June 25, 2008. They reside in Fort Myers, Florida.