Andrew Neal Allanson (born December 22, 1961) is a former professional baseball

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for eight seasons, from 1986 to 1995. Andy was signed as a second-round pick in the 1983 amateur draft, by the Cleveland Indians and scout

Bobby Malkmus Robert Edward Malkmus (born July 4, 1931) is a retired American infielder and scout (sports), scout in Major League Baseball. He also manager (baseball), managed in the farm systems of three MLB clubs – the Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Expos ...

Amateur career

Allanson attended the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

. In 1982 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

and was named a league all-star.

Professional career

Allanson would break into the Major Leagues on April 7, 1986, starting Opening Day behind the plate for the Indians. He went 3–4 with one run batted in, helping the Indians defeat the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

6–4. A lithe, take-charge catcher, Allanson's handling of the 1986 Cleveland pitching staff was in part responsible for the Indians resurgent, 84–78 mark. He was named the Topps All-Rookie catcher. Despite his size (6'5", 220 lbs), Allanson did not hit a home run until his 1,025th pro at-bat, in the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

that June 23. The Indians, feeling they were perhaps a better-hitting, veteran catcher away from contention, signed

Rick Dempsey John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player.Joel Skinner Joel Patrick Skinner (born February 21, 1961) is an American professional baseball manager and coach, and former Major League catcher and manager. Skinner mostly has managed at the minor-league level, save for one half of one season at the helm ...

before the 1989 season again cut into Allanson's playing time, and when the team traded for

Sandy Alomar Jr. Santos "Sandy" Alomar Velázquez Jr. (, ; born June 18, 1966) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher between 1988 and 2007, most notably as a member of the Cleve ...

in December 1989, it was clear Allanson's starting days were over. He was released the following spring, and was picked up by the Texas Rangers a few days later. Allanson was released in May, and did not play for any other club that year. He was picked up by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

in January 1991, and was traded to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

before the season started. Allanson played 60 games for the Tigers, backing up

Mickey Tettleton Mickey Lee Tettleton (born September 16, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. Although Tettleton played most ...

behind the plate, and became a free agent after the season. He signed with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

for the 1992 season, and joined the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in 1993. However, he only played 24 games during that two-year span, and would not appear in the Major Leagues again until 1995 with the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

, playing in 35 games.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allanson, Andy 1961 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Cleveland Indians players Detroit Tigers players Milwaukee Brewers players San Francisco Giants players California Angels players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Phoenix Firebirds players Waterbury Indians players Batavia Trojans players Oklahoma City 89ers players Vancouver Canadians players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Denver Zephyrs players Salinas Spurs players San Bernardino Spirit players Richmond Spiders baseball players Long Beach Riptide players All-American college baseball players Waterloo Indians players Lake Elsinore Storm players Harwich Mariners players