John Stearns

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John Stearns
Position Catcher
Teams Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Years Played 1974-1984
Born August 21, 1951
Height 6 ft. 0 in.
Weight 185 lb.
Bats Right
Throws Right
College University of Colorado
Place of birth Denver, Colorado
Drafted by Philadelphia Phillies
Round 1st round (2nd overall)
Major League Debut September 22, 1974

John Hardin Stearns (born August 21, 1951) is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets from 1975 to 1984 (he also played a single game for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974). He was one of the best players on one of the worst franchises of his era, representing the Mets in four All-Star Games while the team flirted with 100 losses all four seasons.

Stearns was a hard-playing catcher who was a good bunter and line drive hitter.[1] He also had uncanny speed for a backstop. He broke the National League record for stolen bases by a catcher and, for his career, had nearly twice as many stolen bases as home runs. With his decent speed, he sometimes batted second but most often batted fifth or sixth. For his career, he logged a .260 batting average with 46 home runs, 312 RBI and 91 stolen bases in 2,681 at bats and 810 games played.

Contents

[edit] Football attitude

Stearns was a Mets fan favorite for his hard physical play. On April 8, 1978, he triggered a bench-clearing brawl by hitting Montreal Expos catcher, Gary Carter, at the plate. On the last play of a game on June 30, 1978, the Pittsburgh Pirates' 6'5" Dave Parker was racing home with the tying run and collided with Stearns. Parker was not only out to end the game, but his cheekbone was fractured sidelining him for over two weeks. On June 12, 1980, two inebriated spectators jumped on to the playing field. While police were unable to catch them, Stearns grew frustrated and ran from behind the plate into left field, tackling and subduing one of them. In another instance, Stearns was sitting out the second game of a July 4, 1980 doubleheader when the opposing pitcher, Bill Gullickson, threw a pitch over Mike Jorgensen's head. Stearns immediately came out of the dugout and ran after Gullickson triggering another bench-clearing brawl. In the most bizarre scene, Stearns once became irritated at the Atlanta Braves mascot, Chief Noc-A-Homa, and chased him off the field before the game.[2] Statistically, Stearns's hard-playing was evidenced by him twice being in the league top five in hit by pitches, but also evidenced by numerous trips to the disabled list and him playing more than 100 games in only three seasons.

Younger fans witnessed Stearns's enthusiasm and excitability while he was a Mets coach in 2000. He was wearing a microphone for Fox television when the Mets' Mike Piazza hit a run-scoring double in Game 1 of the 2000 NLCS. Stearns's audible reaction of, "THE MONSTER IS OUT OF THE CAGE!!", became a rallying cry for the entire series, which the Mets won four games to one.

[edit] Early life and career

John Stearns was born in Denver, Colorado. At age 17, he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 13th round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to attend the University of Colorado instead. His older brother, Bill, was a late-round draft pick in 1971 and played in the New York Yankees organization – also as a catcher – but never reached the majors.[1] John became a two-sport star at Colorado and was drafted by the NFL Buffalo Bills as a defensive back.[3] When the Philadelphia Phillies made him the second overall pick in the 1973 draft, he chose baseball. Stearns was drafted before two eventual Hall of Famers, Robin Yount and Dave Winfield, but all three were drafted after pitcher David Clyde, who was out of the majors for good at age 24, with arm problems.

Stearns's professional career started with the AA minor league Reading Phillies in 1973, but did not start particularly well. After batting just .241 at AA, he was sent to the high-A Carolina League's Rocky Mount Phillies for 1974 and improved drastically. Mid-season, he was promoted directly to the AAA Toledo Mud Hens. Although his hitting statistics were not fantastic at Toledo, he was brought up to the majors in September. On September 22, 1974, Stearns played his first game and picked up his first hit, going 1-for-2 off the bench.

[edit] Early trade and winning a starting job

Stearns's first game with the major league Phillies turned out to be his last with the Phillies. With budding prospect Bob Boone firmly entrenched behind the plate for Philadelphia, Stearns became expendable. On December 3, 1974, the Phillies struck a trade with the New York Mets to acquire ace relief pitcher and New York fan favorite, Tug McGraw. In return for McGraw, outfielders Don Hahn and Dave Schneck, the Mets received Stearns, outfielder Del Unser, and relief pitcher Mac Scarce. With McGraw, the Phillies had two 101-win seasons and their first World Championship, while the Mets had two mediocre seasons and then descended to the bottom of the National League for seven years.

In his first season as a Met, Stearns spent 1975 as the backup catcher behind veteran Jerry Grote. Grote had been the Mets' regular catcher since 1966, including every inning of every postseason game for both the 1969 World Series champions and the 1973 NLCS champions. As Grote's backup, Stearns batted only .189 in 1975.

In 1976, Stearns hit poorly in limited time and was soon replaced in backup duties by lefty hitter Ron Hodges. Stearns was sent back to the Tidewater Tides and hit very well while Hodges struggled in the majors. He was brought back to the majors for September and continued his hot hitting. With 18 hits in his first 13 games back, including seven hits in two games, Stearns not only ousted Hodges, but even took over the starting duties from Grote for most of the rest of the season.

[edit] All-Star career

After his torrid finish to 1976, Stearns was the starting catcher for most of 1977, with Grote and Hodges relegated to backup and pinch-hitting duty. In June, he posted two four-RBI games, including the only grand slam of his career. On July 1, his average stood at .314, with a slugging average of .554. With his good mid-season statistics and the Mets near the bottom of the National League, Stearns was chosen as the team's sole representative to the All-Star Game, catching the bottom of the ninth inning. His second half was terrible, with a .125 average in August and .167 average in September. Although his final statistics were mostly at or below the league average, they looked very good compared to the rest of the team which lost 98 games and had the worst offense in the majors in 1977. His 25 doubles were tops on the team and 12 home runs tied for the team lead.

Despite a poor average and only two RBI in April, Stearns set career highs in home runs, RBI, runs and total bases in 1978. In addition, his 25 stolen bases were not only a career high, but also broke the National League record for catchers, which had been held by Johnny Kling since 1902 (Jason Kendall broke Stearns's record in 1998). The Mets were again near the bottom of the National League, but with his slow start, Stearns was bypassed for the All-Star team, with Pat Zachry representing the Mets instead. The Mets finished with a National League-worst 96 losses.

In 1979, Stearns set career highs in games played, but at age 27, it was his last season with 100 or more games. He also set personal highs in at-bats, hits and doubles. Although he struggled to get above .200, a good June resulted in selection to his second All-Star Game (although he did not play). Between 1967 and 1993, no season was worse for the Mets than 1979. Well out of contention in the second half, they experimented by playing Stearns at both first base and third base, as well as in the outfield, but he finished out the season back behind the plate.

1980 brought a new approach for Stearns, as he completely stopped hitting for power – in fact, he went the entire season without a home run – but his batting average started to rise. Instead of struggling to stay around .250, his average was mostly between .300 and .320 from early May through the end of June. He was also on pace to hit over 40 doubles, which would have easily been his career high. Stearns was selected to his third All-Star Game and even logged his first All-Star Game at bat, grounding out in the fifth inning. A three-hit, three-RBI game highlighted his July, but just a week later, on July 26, a broken finger on a foul tip ended his season.[1] It was the first of several injuries that would plague the rest of his career.

Stearns started 1981 the same way he ended 1980: on the disabled list. After missing the first two weeks, he was eased back with pinch-hitting duty and play at first and third base. He finally started catching regularly again in late May and was hitting fairly well, when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike cancelled two months of the season starting in mid-June. Play resumed in mid-August and Stearns finished with a respectable .271 average, but his run production dropped quite a bit from 1980 and he had only 14 extra base hits all season.

1982 appeared to be a return to Stearns's 1980 approach, as his average was again at or above .300 for much of the first half. He was again on pace for around 40 doubles and was even on pace for nearly 30 stolen bases. At age 30, Stearns was picked for his fourth All-Star Game. He continued hitting well after the break, but after a month, began suffering the effects of elbow tendonitis.[1] He went on the disabled list in mid-August and only made three pinch running appearances the rest of the season.

[edit] Career-ending injury

The elbow injury that ended Stearns's 1982 season ultimately ended his career. In 1983, he was unable to start the season and was put on the disabled list in mid-April.[4] Unable to throw, he played in only four games, all as a pinch-runner. In 1984, he spent some time with AAA Tidewater and logged only one big league game in the first five months. He was finally well enough to play in September, but only played sporadically. After the season, Stearns became a free agent and attempted a comeback with the Winter League's Ponce Lions, until re-injuring his elbow.[5] Another comeback with the Cincinnati Reds' AAA Denver Zephyrs in 1985 was going well, until he was hit by a pitch in mid-May.[6] Unable to return to the majors, John Stearns retired.

[edit] Post-retirement

Career-ending injuries did not keep Stearns away from baseball for long. In late 1986, he was hired as a scout and minor league instructor by the Milwaukee Brewers.[7][8] In 1989, he was the New York Yankees' bullpen coach.[9] He was then hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as the manager of the AA-level Knoxville Blue Jays for 1990 and 1991, reaching the postseason in the latter season.[7]

Stearns spent 1992 as a Cincinnati Reds scout, and 1993 as an ESPN broadcaster. He returned to the Reds as the manager of their Rookie-level team, the Princeton Reds in 1994. The team won the Appalachian League championship and Stearns was named Manager of the Year. Afterwards, Stearns managed the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League and won his second minor league championship of the year. Stearns then spent 1996 to 1998 as a scout and first base coach in the Baltimore Orioles organization.[7][10]

In 1999, Stearns returned to the New York Mets as an advance scout.[7] He was then made the Mets' bench coach in 2000. He was dismissed after the season, but re-hired as the third base coach.[11] After two years coaching the major league Mets, Stearns was let go, but hired as a scout for 2002.[7] In 2003, he returned to the dugout as Manager of the Binghamton Mets. Despite a poor record with AA Binghamton, he was made the manager of the AAA Norfolk Tides for 2004. Stearns spent 2005 as a roving catching instructor for the Mets.[12]

Stearns cut ties with the Mets, and on January 11, 2006, was named the manager of the AA Harrisburg Senators in the Washington Nationals system.[3] He is currently the manager of the Columbus Clippers.[13]

John Stearns and his wife, Marti, have three grown sons, Michael, Maden and Justin.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Turetzky, Ken (2006-01-11). John Stearns. BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved on July 4, 2006.
  2. ^ Malone, Michael. Wishing Upon a Star. ESPN. Retrieved on July 8, 2006.
  3. ^ a b All-Star Selected to Lead Senators. Harrisburg Senators. Retrieved on July 4, 2006.
  4. ^ Transactions. The New York Times (1983-04-16). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  5. ^ Stearns Reinjures Elbow. The New York Times (1984-11-14). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  6. ^ Sports World Specials; Catching Up. The New York Times (1985-06-03). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  7. ^ a b c d e Norfolk Tides Manager, John Stearns. Norfolk Tides. Retrieved on July 4, 2006.
  8. ^ Brewers Hire Stearns. The New York Times (1986-11-15). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  9. ^ Sports People; Wrong Number. The New York Times (1989-02-26). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  10. ^ a b John Stearns To Manage B-Mets in 2003. Eastern League (2002-12-03). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  11. ^ Stearns to Return As a Mets Coach. The New York Times (2000-12-17). Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
  12. ^ Princeton Rays December Newsletter. West Virginia Sports on the Net (2005-12-20). Retrieved on July 4, 2006.
  13. ^ Washington Nationals Press Release. Washington Nationals (2006-12-12). Retrieved on December 31, 2006.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../j/o/h/John_Stearns_5c62.html"