William Casey Blake was drafted by Toronto in the seventh round in 1996 ... Was picked by Philadelphia in the 11th round in 1992 and in the 45th round by the New York Yankees in 1995, but did not sign and attended Wichita State, where he was a three-time All-American ... Major-league debut 8/14/99 vs. Oakland ... Singled off Texas' John Burkett for first ML hit, 8/29/99 ... First ML homer was off Indians' Jim Brower on 10/2/99 at Jacobs Field ... Claimed on waivers by Minnesota in 2000, by Baltimore in 2001 and later that season again by the Twins, spending most of his time those two years and again in 2002 in Triple-A ball. ... Batted .309 with 19 homers for AAA Edmonton in 2002 ... Signed by Indians 12/18/02 to a minor-league contract. On December 18, 2002, the Indians signed Blake to a minor league contract
Competed against Bill Selby, Greg LaRocca, and Ricky Gutierrez in 2003 spring training and won the opening-day job at third base by batting .441 with 12 RBI in 23 games ... In 152 games for Cleveland, hit .257 with 67 RBI and 17 homers.