Ben Zobrist Wife, Kids, Family, Salary, Height

Quick Facts

Ben Zobrist is an award-winning American professional baseball player who is currently the number one second-baseman and utility outfielder for the Chicago Cubs. He is popularly known by the monikers Zo, Zobi Wan Kenobi, Zoby, Benny-Zo, and Zorilla.

Biography – The Early Days of Zobi’s Life

Benjamin Thomas Zobrist was born on May 26, 1981, in the small town of Eureka, Illinois where he also grew up. As the son of Cynthia and Tom Zobrist, the senior pastor of Liberty Bible Church in Eureka, Ben was raised in the Christain faith.

While in high school, he played varsity baseball and longed to continue playing in college but there was no baseball offer from college recruiters. After graduating near the top of his class, Zobrist initially planned to attend Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Missouri, (his father’s alma mater) believing his baseball career was over.

But Zobrist eventually made one of the best decisions of his life after being convinced by his high school coach to attend a tryout in nearby Peoria with $50 of his birthday money. Zobrist succumbed and there he impressed the coach at Olivet Nazarene University who offered him a baseball scholarship which he accepted. He later transferred to Dallas Baptist University for his senior year after pitching and playing shortstop at Olivet. At Dallas, he also played shortstop and developed enough all-around skills to be drafted into the MLB as a versatile super-utility man.

Ben Zobrist’s Salary and Net Worth

Being a personality with most of baseball’s highly-valued solid skill sets – contact skills and plate discipline as well as modest power, Zobrist has had an interesting baseball career.

Ben made his MLB debut at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after being drafted and traded in the 6th round by the Houston Astros. The Eureka native played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2006 to 2013. Here, he earned team MVP honours in 2009 and two All-Star berths. In 2013, Zobrist was traded to the Oakland A’s and again traded to Kansas City in mid-season. After the postseason with Kansas City, he signed a four-year $56 million contract which included a bonus of $2 million with the Chicago Cubs to continue his remarkable baseball career.

In the year 2016, Zobrist was elected to the All-Star game and was then named the World Series Most Valuable Player MVP, (the only World Series MVP in Cubs history). In the league rankings, he is placed 58th as per market value and 2nd among second basemen.

Zobrist’s earnings for the year 2018 and 2019 are $16.5 million and $12.5 million respectively. His net worth which is an aggregate from his salary and endorsement deals is estimated at $31 million. Given how progressive Zobrist’s net worth has been over the past few years, that value is expected to continue appreciating over the years.

Personal Life – His Family, Wife and Kids

Zobrist is quite vocal about his Christain faith. He is known to often discuss his faith and credits his success to God whom he says helped him realize that he was supposed to play baseball. He is a former counsellor for Camp of Champions USA, a Christian summer day camp in central Illinois. He speaks at church events and is reported to Bible studies with his teammates.

Ben Zobrist is married to a Christian pop singer, speaker, and author, Julianna Zobrist who is also the daughter of a pastor. They met via instant messaging in 2001 and kicked off a ‘Godly’ relationship. Fours years later, they tied the knot and now have three children together: a son, Zion Benjamin, born on February 1, 2009, and two daughters Kruse Allegra, born on September 19, 2011, and Blaise Royal who was born on November 6, 2015.

The couple who live in Franklin, Tennessee have very successful careers which require them to be on the road 8 months out of the year. But in order to balance both professional careers and parenthood, Ben and Julianna say they are committed to travelling together as well as speaking together at events so as to live their dreams. The couple also has a six-day rule: a promise to never be apart from one another for more than six days.

In 2014, the couple co-authored an autobiographical book entitled Double Play: Faith and Family First. Julianna has so far released a full-length studio album Shatterproof which has sold at least 3,000 copies and a single Safe. Her songs aren’t overly religious but a mix. While some are about God, others are love ballads about her husband and her commitment to him.

Height – How Tall Is Ben?

Standing quite tall at a height of 1.91 m (6.3 ft), Ben Zobrist has been described as one of baseball’s most consistent, versatile, durable and best all-around players. The man is also one of the most lovable figures in Major League Baseball (MLB).

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