Jerry Leroy Goff (born April 12, 1964) 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 ...

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), ...

for the

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 ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and

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 ...

. He was listed at and 207 pounds. In his last major league game, Goff tied two other players for the major league record for most

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

s in a single game post-1900. He is the father of

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

quarterback

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, where he set the Pac-12 Conference season records for passing ...

Amateur career

Goff was drafted twice as a player while attending

San Rafael High School San Rafael High School is a public high school located at 150 Third St. in San Rafael, California, United States. The school is part of the San Rafael City Schools school district. Its official nickname is the Bulldog; however, its athletic team ...

, by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

in 1983 and the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in 1984, but elected instead to attend the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He is ninth in career home runs for Cal (29; tied with Josh Satin). Goff was drafted in the third round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft, 63rd overall, by 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) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. He agreed to sign and went professional.

Professional career

Goff struggled with a low batting average while advancing through Seattle's minor league system, but also showed good power. The

acquired him from Seattle in exchange for Pat Pacillo on February 27, 1990, and he made his Major League Baseball debut with them on May 15 of that year. Goff recorded his first major league hit on May 18, 1990, against

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 ...

pitcher Rick Reuschel at Candlestick Park. He returned to the minors for , but spent parts of the next six years as a backup catcher for the Expos,

, and

. On May 12, , Goff allowed six

s in a single game: two each in the first, third, and fourth innings, which tied him with catchers

Rube Vickers Harry Porter "Rube" Vickers (May 17, 1879–December 9, 1958) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Superbas, Cincinnati Reds, and Philadelphia Athletics during the early 20th century. H ...

and Geno Petralli for the single-game modern-era major league record. Goff had two hits in the game, including a home run, but his miscues led to five unearned runs for the Expos, who went on to win the game 8–7. The Astros sent Goff to Triple-A on May 17, and he never appeared in another big league game. In total, he appeared in 90 games in his major league career, and batted .215 with a .320

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and a .336

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

in 214

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. Goff played one more season of professional baseball in . While with the independent

Amarillo Dillas The Amarillo Dillas were a professional baseball team based in Amarillo, Texas, in the United States. The Dillas were a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or Mi ...

, Goff was selected to the Texas–Louisiana League All-Star team. The last healthy position player remaining on the roster, Goff entered the game as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

in the ninth inning and hit a game-winning double. Working as a firefighter in 2001, Goff was still playing semi-pro baseball for the Novato Knicks, an exhibition team based in

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

Personal life

Goff lives in Novato, California with his wife and two children, Lauren and Jared.

played

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 ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

from 2013 to 2015 and was selected by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

as the first overall pick in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Jerry 1964 births Living people Amarillo Dillas players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Bellingham Mariners players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players California Golden Bears baseball players Houston Astros players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball catchers Montreal Expos players People from Novato, California Baseball players from Marin County, California Pittsburgh Pirates players Wausau Timbers players San Bernardino Spirit players Sportspeople from San Rafael, California Tucson Toros players Vermont Mariners players Williamsport Bills players Anchorage Bucs players