Mears attended
Lord Byng Secondary School in
Vancouver,
British Columbia, and was a fifth-round selection of the
Seattle Mariners in the
1996 Major League Baseball draft. He spent seven seasons in the Mariners' farm system, making it as far as their
Double-A San Antonio Missions farm club before drawing his release following the 2002 season. Shortly thereafter, Mears signed with the
Detroit Tigers and opened 2003 with Detroit's
Triple-A team, the
Toledo Mud Hens. He spent the first two months of the 2003 season in Toledo before having his contract purchased by the Tigers on June 29. Mears spent his first nine weeks of big-league service in the Detroit bullpen, pitching fairly effectively and posting five
saves. At the beginning of September, he was placed in Detroit's
starting rotation, but his starting tenure was short-lived. The
2003 Tigers, who finished with the worst record in baseball since the
1962 Mets, were desperate for reliable pitching, but Mears proved inadequate as a starter, never pitching more than 4
innings per outing and racking up an
earned run average over 10. After three starts, he spent the remainder of the
2003 season in the Tigers bullpen. His season total of five saves tied him for the team lead with
Franklyn Germán. Mears was returned to the
minor leagues by Detroit for the 2004 season, before being released at season's end. He was part of
Team Canada in the
2004 Summer Olympics, who finished in fourth place. Mears split 2005 between the Double-A affiliate of the
St. Louis Cardinals and the Triple-A affiliate of the
Atlanta Braves before retiring following the season. During his Major League career, Mears appeared in 29
games pitched and worked 41
innings, allowing 50
hits and 11
bases on balls. He
struck out 21. ==Post-playing career==