This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other WIN Speaker Series events.
Caleb Jay
Vice President & General Counsel at Arizona DiamondbacksCaleb E. Jay, Vice President & General Counsel for the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the organization in 2007. His responsibilities include handling legal matters for all team departments, the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, Arizona Diamondbacks Events & Entertainment (for non-baseball events at Chase Field), and the Legends Entertainment District (a joint venture between the D-backs and the Phoenix Suns).
Jay spent 11 seasons with the Oakland A’s, joining the team as a bat boy in 1995, and working his way up to Assistant General Counsel, a position he held from 2003-2005. From 2006-2007, he was an Associate with Carroll, Burdick & McDonough LLP, where he practiced real estate, business, and corporate law.
Jay is currently an adjunct professor at Arizona State University College of Law, where he teaches courses in its Sports Law & Business program. His prior teaching experience includes serving as an adjunct professor at Phoenix School of Law, where he taught Sports Law from 2009-2010, and at Dominican University of California, where he taught courses in its Sports Management program from 2004-2007. He was also a grader for the California State Bar Examination.
Jay is actively involved with several organizations and in the community. He is on the Outreach Committee for the Sports Lawyers Association, on the Advisory Board for Arizona State University’s Sports Law & Business Program, and Vice Chair for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Sports and Entertainment Network. He is on the Advisory Board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona, where he also serves as a Big Brother.
Jay earned a B.A. from Emory University, where he was the president of the school’s club rugby team. He received his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He also earned a M.A. in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco.
Jay and his wife, Whitney, reside in Paradise Valley with their son and daughter.
J.J. Putz
Special Assistant to the President & CEO of Arizona DiamondbacksJ.J. Putz joined the D-backs in 2014 as a Special Assistant to D-backs President, CEO and General Partner Derrick Hall following a distinguished 12-year big league playing career. In this role, Putz assists Hall and other departments throughout the baseball and business side of the organization, including attending community events, meeting with corporate partners and interacting with season ticket holders. Putz assists with pitchers during Spring Training and visits D-backs Minor League affiliates at various points in the regular season.
The All-Star reliever rejoined the organization following 12 seasons in the big leagues with the Mariners, Mets, White Sox and D-backs, ending his career in 51st place on the all-time saves list with 189. He posted a 2.81 ERA in 4 seasons with Arizona, the second lowest in franchise history among pitchers with 150 or more appearances behind only Brad Ziegler (2.57).
Putz was named to the 2007 American League All-Star team and won the A.L. Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award that season when he saved 40 games. He posted a Major League leading 1.38 ERA that season, tied with Mariano Rivera (2005) for the seventh-lowest single-season ERA between 1997-2007 (minimum 70.0 IP). That season, he became the 12th closer in Major League history to record more saves than hits allowed (37). He also set the Mariners record by converting 31 consecutive save opportunities.
He notched a career-high 45 saves for the D-backs in 2011, the second-highest single-season total in franchise history, when the team captured the National League West Division title.
The Michigan native participated in the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a member of Team USA, registering 1 save while posting a 3.00 ERA.
He attended the University of Michigan and was a sixth-round selection in the June 1999 draft by the Seattle Mariners. He returned to school to earn his undergraduate degree in kinesiology while still pitching in 2010. Putz also graduated from Trenton High School where his No. 20 was retired in 2012 as a 2-time All-State selection for baseball.
A dedicated member of the community, Putz is a member of the Thunderbirds. In 2015, he and his wife, Kelsey, were the honorary co-chairs of Evening on the Diamond, the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation’s signature fundraising event. He has also served in that role for Driving Out Domestic Violence.
In 2016, J.J. and Kelsey Putz Field was dedicated in Phoenix, the 36th field built or renovated as part of the Diamonds Back Field Building program and the first designed specifically for softball.
He and Kelsey reside in Phoenix with their children: Lauren, Kaelyn, Ethan and Addison.