Gerald Anthony Young (born October 22, 1964) is a
Honduran former
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
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 c ...
. He played all or parts of eight seasons 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), primarily as a
center fielder. He is
the first person born in Honduras to play Major League Baseball.
Career
A 1982 graduate of Santa Ana Valley High School, Young was drafted in the 5th round of the
1982 MLB amateur draft by 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 ...
. He was, along with
Rafael Palmeiro and
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden (born November 16, 1964), nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the N ...
, part of a draft class that set a major league record for a single team when 14 of those players reached the major leagues.
Traded by the Mets to the
Houston Astros on September 1, 1984, for
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
Ray Knight
Charles Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder best remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets. Originally drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League ...
, Young made his major league debut with them on July 8, 1987. He showed promise by hitting .321 and stealing 26 bases for the Astros, finishing 5th in
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
Rookie of the Year voting despite playing less than half a season with the major league club. Young's best season in the major leagues came the following year, 1988, when he finished 2nd in the NL with 65 steals. 1989 was a disappointment for Young offensively, although he finished 8th in the league in steals (34) and accomplished a rare defensive feat by recording 412 putouts with only one error and adding 15 outfield assists.
Young spent the next three seasons splitting time between the Astros, their
Triple A affiliate 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 ...
, and the disabled list (with an assortment of injuries). Although he was successful at the minor league level, always hitting over .300, his batting statistics for the Astros never replicated his earlier success. At the end of the 1992 season, Young became a
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 ...
.
Young became an inaugural member of the
expansion Colorado Rockies in 1993. Young hit .340 in spring training, but the team acquired power-hitting outfielder
Dale Murphy
Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...
in the first week of the 1993 season. Young was limited to one hit in 19 at bats over two months. The team released him when he declined to be sent to the minor leagues. He was a free agent for a few weeks before landing with the Class AAA affiliate of the
Cincinnati Reds and hitting .301, but he was released after 32 games. He finished the season with the Class AAA affiliate of the
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...
, hitting .298 for them in 25 games.
With the St. Louis Cardinals in 1994, Young hit .333 in spring training, and he thought he might make the major league team, but he started the season with Class AAA Louisville after Cardinals manager
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...
decided to keep four outfielders on the roster instead of the customary five outfielders.
[
Young appeared in his final MLB game on August 11, 1994, playing for the Cardinals. He was released that October.
]
Personal life
Gerald is married to Veronica; the couple have two children together.
See also
* Houston Astros award winners and league leaders This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Houston Astros, an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL), having moved to the ...
* List of Houston Astros team records
*
* List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
In baseball statistics, a stolen base is credited to a baserunner when he successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is throwing the ball to home plate. Under Rule 7.01 of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Official Rules, a runner acqu ...
References
External links
, o
Retrosheet
o
Baseball Reference (Minor and Independent leagues)
o
Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Gerald
1964 births
Living people
Atlantic City Surf players
Calgary Cannons players
Colorado Rockies players
Columbia Mets players
Columbus Astros players
Expatriate baseball players in Canada
Expatriate baseball players in the United States
Gulf Coast Mets players
Houston Astros players
Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Honduran expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Indianapolis Indians players
Kingsport Mets players
Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds players
Louisville Redbirds players
Major League Baseball center fielders
Major League Baseball players from Honduras
Osceola Astros players
People from Tela
Sioux City Explorers players
Sioux Falls Canaries players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Tiburones de La Guaira players
Expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Tucson Toros players