House enters his first season with the Bears after playing for Triple-A Omaha in 2009. He batted .251 with 127 hits and 53 RBI in 127 games for the Royals affiliate. The 30-year-old spent six seasons in the Pirates organization, including being called up to Pittsburgh twice. He also played for two other clubs (Astros, Orioles).

The West Virginia native had his best season in 2006 when he split time between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Round Rock. He batted a combined .344 with 170 hits, 105 RBI, and 83 RBI in 128 games. House is a .167 career major league hitter with 10 hits in 32 games. In addition, he played 10 seasons of minor league baseball and amassed a .302 average with 1,052 hits, 177 home runs and 562 RBI. House was originally selected by the Pirates in the fifth round of he 1999 draft.