Alexander Cole Jr. (born August 17, 1965) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Career

Drafted by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the 2nd round of the 1985 MLB amateur draft, Cole would make his Major League debut with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

on July 27, 1990, and appear in his final game on May 22, 1996. Known as a stolen base threat (Cole ranked fourth in the American League in 1990 with 40 stolen bases despite playing in only 63 games), the Indians in 1991 cited his speed as a prime reason for moving the outfield walls of

Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball an ...

back. This effort, however, resulted in the Indians hitting only 22 home runs at home for the year. After being traded from the Indians midway through the 1992 season, Cole briefly played with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

before becoming a member of the inaugural

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

team in 1993. After spending two years with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, Cole signed with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and spent most of the 1996 season with their AAA squad. His final game was May 22, 1996. Cole spent most of the rest of his baseball career in the independent minor leagues. He started off 1997 playing for the

Madison Black Wolf The Madison Black Wolf was a Northern League baseball club located in Madison, Wisconsin from 1996 to 2000. They played their home games at Warner Park which was then nicknamed "The Wolf Den". The club was owned by Madison Baseball, LLC, which fo ...

of the Northern League, then was acquired by the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

and placed on their then top affiliate, the

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

. He would play in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

in 1998 before finishing his career playing three years with the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

External links

, o
Retrosheet
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Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
1965 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American sportspeople convicted of crimes American people convicted of drug offenses Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from North Carolina Boston Red Sox players Bridgeport Bluefish players Charlotte Knights players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Johnson City Cardinals players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Louisville Redbirds players Madison Black Wolf players Major League Baseball center fielders Mayas de Chetumal players Minnesota Twins players Pawtucket Red Sox players Pittsburgh Pirates players SCF Manatees baseball players Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina St. Petersburg Cardinals players State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota alumni Sultanes de Monterrey players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-outfielder-1960s-stub