Background and career
Travis Takashi Ishikawa (born September 24, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and current minor league coach. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Ishikawa has also filled in as an outfielder at times in his career. Ishikawa grew up in Washington state. He was selected in the 21st round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants out of high school and made his major league debut with the team in 2006. He started 2009 as the Giants' first baseman. On defense he was third in the National League in fielding percentage. In 2010, he earned a World Series ring as part of the Giants' World Series victory. Ishikawa signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2012 and in 2014 made the Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day roster. He was re-signed by his former team the Giants in April and started for them in left field during the 2014 playoffs. On October 16, 2014, Ishikawa hit a walk-off three-run home run to give the Giants their third National League pennant in five years by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ishikawa attended Federal Way High School in Federal Way, Washington, where he lettered in baseball, leading his team to the Washington State Class 4A Title as a junior in 2001 and to the title game as a senior in 2002.
Ishikawa was drafted in the 21st round of the 2002 draft by the San Francisco Giants. The Giants gave him a $955,000 bonus to prevent him from attending Oregon State University. The bonus was at the time the highest for a non-first-round player, cued on by the organization's approaching signing deadline. The Giants could afford to pay a 21st-round pick that much because their higher picks had signed quickly for routine bonuses. Ishikawa began his career playing for the rookie-league Arizona League Giants in 2002. He batted .279 with 10 runs scored, 19 hits, one home run and 10 Runs batted in (RBI) in 19 games (68 at-bats) before being called up to the Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League. With Salem-Keizer, he hit .307 with 14 runs scored, 27 hits, one home run, and 17 RBI in 23 games (96 at-bats). His performance helped Salem-Keizer win the Northwest League championship. In 2003, Ishikawa was initially assigned to the Class A Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League. After he batted .206 with 20 runs scored, 40 hits, three home runs, and 22 RBI in 57 games (194 at-bats), he was demoted to Salem-Keizer. In 66 games (248 at-bats) with the Volcanoes, he batted .254 with 53 runs scored, 63 hits, three home runs, and 31 RBI. Coming into 2004, Ishikawa was ranked the Giants' seventh-best prospect by Baseball America. He spent most of 2004 with the Suns, batting .257 with 59 runs scored, 92 hits, and 54 RBI in 97 games (355 at-bats). He tied with Nate Schierholtz for the team lead with 15 home runs, and he won the Hagerstown Player of the Month award in July. In the last month of the season, Ishikawa was promoted to the Class A-Advanced San Jose Giants of the California League, where he batted .232 with 10 runs scored, 13 hits, one home run, and 10 RBI in 16 games (56 at-bats). He also played eight playoff games for San Jose. Ishikawa was ranked the 10th-best prospect in the Giants' organization by Baseball America entering 2005. In 2005, he spent the entire season with San Jose. In 127 games (432 at-bats), he batted .282 with 87 runs scored, 122 hits, and 79 RBI. His 22 home runs ranked fourth in the San Francisco Giants' organization and tied with Bryan LaHair, Travis Metcalf, and Aneudi Cuevas for seventh in the California League. He appeared in six playoff games, batting .217 with four RBI as San Jose won the California League championship. Before the 2006 season, Baseball America ranked Ishikawa the number four prospect in the Giants' organization. He attended spring training with the Giants for the first time in his career.
He was recalled from the minors for the first time on April 18 when Lance Niekro was placed on the Bereavement List, and made his major league debut the same day in a 7–4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. His first big league hit came on April 19 as a pinch-hit single off Brandon Webb in a 10–3 loss to Arizona. The next day, he returned to the minors to make room for Niekro. On May 26, he was recalled when Daniel Ortmeier was sent to the minors. He had his first big league start that day against the Colorado Rockies and had three hits, two doubles and three RBI in a 9–0 victory. After the game, Kevin Frandsen and Todd Greene gave him a pie in the face to celebrate. After four games (during which he hit .500), he was returned to the minors on May 30. He was recalled on June 13 when Niekro went on the disabled list again. After six games on this stint, he returned to the minors on June 21 when Frandsen was recalled. In the minor leagues that year, Ishikawa played for the Double-A Connecticut Defenders of the Eastern League. In 86 games (298 at-bats), he batted .232 with 33 runs scored, 69 hits, 10 home runs, and 42 RBI. In 12 games (24 at-bats) with the Giants, he batted .292 with one run scored, seven hits, no home runs, and four RBI. After the season, he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.
Ishikawa attended spring training with the Giants in 2007 but was reassigned to the minors on March 6. He spent the entire season in the minors, splitting time between Connecticut and San Jose. He began the season with Connecticut, hitting .214 with three home runs and 17 RBI in 48 games (173 at-bats) before suffering a knee injury. He was sent to San Jose on June 28 to recover from it, and he said that the Giants told him he would be promoted to Triple-A after a rehab assignment. However, he struggled and remained with San Jose for the rest of the year, batting .268 with 13 home runs, 34 RBI, and a .551 slugging percentage in 56 games (198 at-bats). He batted .241, hit two home runs, and posted five RBI in the playoffs as San Jose won another California League championship.
In 2008, Ishikawa again attended spring training for the Giants and again began the season in the minors. On August 13, he was called up by the Giants to replace a slumping John Bowker as the Giants' starting first baseman, a position Ishikawa held for most of the remainder of the season. Ishikawa hit his first major league home run on August 17 at Turner Field, a two-run shot off Charlie Morton to right field in a 3–1 victory over the Atlanta Braves. He set a career high by having three hits on September 12 and 14 against the San Diego Padres. In 33 games (95 at-bats) with the Giants, Ishikawa batted .274 with 12 runs, 26 hits, six doubles, three home runs, and 15 RBI. Prior to his callup by the Giants, Ishikawa played for Connecticut and the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League, batting .299 (121-for-405) with 69 runs, 35 doubles, 24 home runs, and 94 RBI in 112 games with both clubs. Initially, he was assigned to Connecticut, where he batted .289 with 16 doubles, 8 home runs, and 45 RBI in 64 games before earning a promotion to Fresno on June 20. In 48 games with Fresno, he batted .310 with 19 doubles, 16 home runs, and 46 RBI in 171 at-bats. He had the fourth-highest average, the second-most home runs, and the third-most RBI of players in the Giants' organization. In May and June, Ishikawa was awarded the Giants Player of Month title; from June 2 to 8 he was named the Eastern League Player of Week after amassing 10 hit in 22 at-bats (.455 average) with three home runs and nine RBI.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
