J . R . House James Rodger " J . R . " House ( born November 11 , 1979 in Charleston , West Virginia ) is a retired catcher in Major League Baseball who is currently the hitting coach for the minor league Missoula Osprey . House was drafted in the 5th round . He later gave up baseball , focusing instead on his love of football . He enrolled at West Virginia University as a quarterback , but after a single season left choosing to return to minor league baseball . Early life . A top high school football player at Nitro , J . R . House set a national high school record with 10 touchdown passes in the 1998 West Virginia state championship game against Morgantown . He was the West Virginia high school football player of the year and also set a national record with 14 , 457 career passing yards . House is now fourth all - time behind Maty Mauk ( 18 , 932 ) , Maty ' s older brother Ben Mauk ( 17 , 364 ) and Chris Leak ( 15 , 593 ) . During his high school years , he spent fall semesters playing football at Nitro and spring semesters playing baseball at Seabreeze High School in Ormond Beach , Florida ; he moved each winter with his father , who owns automobile dealerships in the Charleston and Daytona Beach areas . Professional career . Minor leagues . It was unclear if he would decide to play baseball or football professionally ; he opted for the former . A good hitter in the minors , House was plagued by many injuries . In 2001 , he was twice on the disabled list with bruised ribs . A year later , he had surgery three times - for an abdominal hernia , a torn muscle and Tommy John surgery . The last surgery cost him most of the 2003 season . Additionally , he missed a month in 2000 due to mononucleosis . He was limited to 35 games in 2002 and 41 in 2003 . When healthy , House hit over . 300 in Rookie League and short - season class A in 1999 . The next year , he batted . 348 with 23 homers , sharing the South Atlantic League MVP with Josh Hamilton . After barely playing for two years , House hit . 288 / . 344 / . 502 at AAA - his career minor league line was . 304 / . 371 / . 502 . House was not deemed a prospect any more by the Pittsburgh Pirates , who had high hopes for other young catchers Ryan Doumit , Humberto Cota , Ronny Paulino and Neil Walker . He barely played in his second year in the majors . He had rotator cuff surgery on his previously injured right shoulder in 2004 and two weeks later was released by the Pirates . After his baseball career apparently ended , House enrolled at West Virginia University , where he was the third - string quarterback for one season . In 2005 , House completed 2 of 4 passes for 38 yards with no TDs or interceptions . He also had 2 rushes for 16 yards with a long of 13 yards and no TDs . Deciding to return to baseball in 2006 , J . R . signed with the Houston Astros . Assigned to their Corpus Christi Hooks Class AA minor league team , he had two hitting streaks of over 15 games in the first two months of the year and by June 3 was leading the Texas League in batting average . Major leagues . Soon thereafter , House moved up to the AAA Round Rock Express . On August 21 , 2006 he played his last game with Round Rock and was called up by the Astros . The next night , House debuted against the Cincinnati Reds . On November 14 , 2006 , House was signed by the Baltimore Orioles . House played for the Norfolk Tides , their AAA affiliate , for the first three months of the baseball season . It was reported in July that House opted out of his contract with the Orioles , citing a clause that if he was not playing with the Baltimore Orioles by July 1 he was allowed to dissolve the contract . House was recalled by the Orioles on August 13 , 2007 . House hit his first career home run off Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jesse Litsch on August 18 , 2007 . House was outrighted to the minor leagues on October 3 , 2007 . He declined the assignment and elected free agency on October 12 . After spending one year in the Orioles organization , he returned to the Astros organization , signing a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training on January 10 , 2008 . House did not make the Astros ' 2008 opening day roster and on March 19 , 2008 was sent back to the AAA Round Rock Express in the Pacific Coast League . He was called up on August 16 . House started 16 games as catcher for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball , but on May 14 , 2010 House was signed by the New York Mets . He reported to the Mets ' Triple A affiliate , the Buffalo Bisons . On February 9 , 2011 , he signed a contract with the Long Island Ducks .