David Donald Meads (born January 7, 1964) is a former

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), ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

. After attending college and spending time in minor league baseball, he played in two seasons for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Biography

Early career

Meads grew up in

Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey Monroe Township is a township in southern Middlesex County, in New Jersey, United States. It is part of the outer-ring suburbs of the New York metropolitan area. The township is also centrally located within the Raritan Valley region. As of th ...

and played baseball at

Monroe Township High School Monroe Township High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Monroe Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades part of the Monroe Township School Distr ...

, from which he graduated in 1981. Meads played baseball at Middlesex College and was scouted by

Clary Anderson Clarence Oscar "Clary" Anderson (July 7, 1911 – August 19, 1988) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He was the head baseball and football coach for the Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. In seven sea ...

. Meads was inducted into the Middlesex College Athletics Hall of Fame in their inaugural class in 2022. He was drafted by Houston in the sixth round of the 1984 amateur draft. Meads started at the lowest tier with the

GCL Astros The Florida Complex League Astros are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Astros. The team plays i ...

of the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the lo ...

in 1984 at age 20 before being promoted to low A ball with the

Auburn Astros Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. In 1986 he rose through A and into AA with the

Columbus Astros Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

of the Southern League, registering a 1–1

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 4.43

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in 16 games.Dave Meads Pitching Statistics - Baseball Cube
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Major leagues

Meads started the 1987 season with the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

of the AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. He went 1–0 with a 2.80 ERA in 10 appearances before being called up by Houston in April. Meads made his debut on April 13, 1987, and got his first victory on April 23, striking out

Ken Griffey George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Marin ...

, the only batter he faced. He went 5–3 with a 5.55 ERA in 45 appearances out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. Meads started the 1988 season back with Tucson, but was called up again later in the season and proceeded to go 3–1 with a 3.18 ERA in 22 games pitched. In 1989, while playing with Tucson, he had an arm injury that cut short his career.Dave Meads Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-reference.com
/ref>

References

External links

Dave Meads career stats on ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meads, Dave 1964 births Living people Houston Astros players Osceola Astros players Asheville Tourists players Columbus Astros players Tucson Toros players Gulf Coast Astros players Auburn Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Montclair, New Jersey Baseball players from Essex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey Middlesex County College alumni Gastonia Jets players