James Raleigh Mouton (born December 29, 1968) is an American 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. An

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 ...

, 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), ...

, from 1994 until 2001, 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 ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

and

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 ...

Early career

Mouton was drafted by the Astros in the 7th round of the

1991 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental first round selections Compensation picks Other notable players *Kevin Stocker, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Philade ...

, as a second baseman. He advanced rapidly through their farm system, and was playing at Triple-A 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 ...

by 1993. That year, he won the

Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award The Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's Pacific Coast League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. From 1932 to 1947, the ...

after

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

.315 with 16

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 92 RBI, and 40

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

Major league career

Astros

In 1994, Mouton made his major league debut as the Astros'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

and leadoff hitter. Although he had never played the outfield in the minor leagues, he fielded reasonably well, finishing 7th in the

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 s ...

in defensive

Wins above replacement Wins Above Replacement or Wins Above Replacement Player, commonly abbreviated to WAR or WARP, is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic developed to sum up "a player's total contributions to his team". A player's WAR value is claimed to ...

. He played in every game that season until the 1994-95 strike ended the season in August, appearing at all three outfield positions. He also finished 10th in the NL in stolen bases with 24. During the next two seasons, Mouton continued to play semi-regularly for the Astros, playing in over 100 games each year. His statistics remained fairly consistent, batting .262 with 4 home runs, 27 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 1995, and batting .263 with 3 home runs, 34 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 1996. In 1997, however, his batting average dipped to .211, and he managed just 9 steals in 80 games. He was traded during the offseason to the Padres for

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 ...

Sean Bergman Sean Frederick Bergman (born April 11, 1970) is an American former right-handed Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, and Minnesota Twins between 1993 and 2000. Be ...

Remaining career

Mouton split the 1998 season between the major league Padres and their top farm club, the Las Vegas Stars. Although he hit .354 in the minors, Mouton hit just .190 with San Diego, and was allowed to become a free agent after the season. Mouton signed with the Expos, spending the 1999 season as their fifth outfielder. He served in a similar capacity for the Brewers in 2000–01. After spending 2002 in the minor leagues, Mouton played part of the 2003 season 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 ...

with the

Broncos de Reynosa The Reynosa Broncos (''los Broncos de Reynosa'') were a Mexican team that played in the Adolfo Lopez Mateos stadium in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The Broncos de Reynosa played in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol and it was part of the Zona Nort ...

before retiring.

Career summary

In eight seasons, Mouton played 723 games, and hit .246, 18

s, and 148

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

Personal life

Mouton has three children. He is an area scout for 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 ...

, based in

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, up from 67,35 ...

. He used to be an area scout for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouton, James 1968 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Auburn Astros players Baseball players from Denver Broncos de Reynosa players Houston Astros players Indianapolis Indians players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball outfielders Mexican League baseball right fielders Milwaukee Brewers players Montreal Expos players Osceola Astros players Ottawa Lynx players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants scouts Tucson Sidewinders players Tucson Toros players Pacific Coast League MVP award winners