Darren Christopher O’Day (born October 22, 1982) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who currently pitches for the Atlanta Braves (MLB). He formerly played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Yankees in the Major League Baseball.
O’Day was a member of the University of Florida baseball team. O’Day went undrafted out of college and joined the Angels as a free agent in 2006. He made his Major League Baseball debut in 2008 and was named an All-Star in 2015. O’Day is one of the few pitchers in the Major Leagues that can throw submarine pitches.
Elizabeth Prann, a University of Florida alumnus and HLN anchor/reporter, is O’Day’s wife. Claire, the couple’s first child, was born in December 2014.
O’Day was named the 2017 Major League Baseball Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honoree for his service to the United States Military in 2017.
Darren O’Day Parents: Meet Darren O’Day Father, Ralph O’Day
Ralph Leon and Michal (née Shoemaker) O’Day are Darren’s parents, and he has an elder brother, Kyle Matthew O’Day. He is descended from Louis DuBois (Huguenot), an early pioneer of Ulster County, New York, as well as the Hasbrouck family. Zack Short of the Detroit Tigers is his 11th cousin through these connections.
Odachowski was O’Day’s original surname. After his grandpa died in a vehicle accident, his paternal grandmother abbreviated his name to Odach (the “ch” is silent in Polish pronunciation) to make it simpler to say for her coworkers at Montgomery Ward in Chicago.
After they married, Ralph and one of his brothers legally changed their last names to O’Day in her honor. To celebrate his family background, O’Day has “D. Odachowski” sewn on the side of his game glove. On August 25–27, 2017, he wore “Odachowski” on the back of his jersey during MLB’s Players Weekend.