Donald Emery Florence (born March 16, 1967) 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 t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, who pitched only one season 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), ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in 1995.

Playing career

Florence grew up in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

and played baseball and football at

Manchester Memorial High School Manchester Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive school in Manchester, New Hampshire, with an enrollment of approximately 1,600. It is a part of the Manchester School District. The school's Latin motto is " scientia est potentia." Ma ...

. He credited his time as a high school

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

with helping develop his arm strength. Florence began his

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

career at

Crowder College Crowder College is a public community college in Neosho, Missouri. It serves the Community College District of Newton and McDonald counties in southwestern Missouri and other outlying areas. The school enrolled 4,398 in 2019. Established in 1963 ...

Neosho, Missouri Neosho (; originally or ) is the most populous city in Newton County, Missouri, United States, which it serves as the county seat. With a population of 12,590 as of the 2020 census, the city is a part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Stat ...

where he managed a 2.82

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 ...

as a

and a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .344 as a sophomore. He committed to continue his college baseball career at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in 1987. Florence was originally signed by 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 eigh ...

as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in October 1987, and compiled a 28-40 record, with a 3.64

and 379 strikeouts over seven seasons in their farm system. He signed with the Mets as a minor league free agent following the season, and after 47 innings pitched for the

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

, in which he only allowed five

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s, Florence received his first call up to the majors at the robust age of 28. In his second game, he earned his first major league win against the Philadelphia Phillies on his way to a perfect 3-0 record. He made fourteen appearances out of the Mets' bullpen, and compiled an impressive 1.50 ERA, but never pitched another major league game after .

Personal life

Florence married the former Tonia Kennedy, from

New Boston, New Hampshire New Boston is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,108 at the 2020 census, up from 5,321 at the 2010 census. New Boston is home to the annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair and the Molly Stark ...

, with whom he had a son, Tatum, in 1993.

References

External links

, o
The Ultimate Mets Database
New York Mets players Winter Haven Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers 1967 births Living people Baseball players from Manchester, New Hampshire New Britain Red Sox players Norfolk Tides players Pawtucket Red Sox players Rochester Red Wings players Crowder Roughriders baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub