Rowland Johnie Office (born October 25, 1952) is a former

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 ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

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

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 ...

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) between 1972 and 1983.

Biography

Born in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, Office played baseball there at C. K. McClatchy High School and

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

. He played against future MLB teammate

Jerry Royster Jeron Kennis Royster (born October 18, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball player and coach. He was a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. He was ...

in Sacramento's Metro League. Office debuted with the Atlanta Braves in 1972, making him the youngest MLB player that year. After spending the 1973 season in the minor leagues, he started to become a regular in the Braves lineup in 1974. Office shared left field responsibilities with future Hall of Famer

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

, who was nearing the end of his career. Biographers Mark L. Stewart and Mike Kennedy described Office as "an impossibly skinny 21-year-old who played his position with tremendous enthusiasm, if not always the highest regard for his body." Office made one of the most well-known defensive plays in the history of

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, often referred to as Fulton County Stadium and originally named Atlanta Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in the southeastern United States, located in Atlanta. The stadium was home of the Atlanta Braves of the ...

in 1975, when he leaped to catch a ball that appeared to be on its way over the outfield wall. In 1976, with the Braves in the middle of a string of several losing seasons, Office had a 29-game hitting streak. However, he injured his knee in July, which limited his productivity for the rest of the year. Remaining with the Braves through 1979, Office next signed as a free agent with the Expos. The team released him in early 1982, and he joined the minor league system of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Office got an opportunity with the New York Yankees in 1983, but he only appeared in two MLB games that season. Spending most of that year in the minor leagues with the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

, Office had a .297

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 ...

with eight

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 and 45

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 ...

in 87 games. In 11 seasons, Office played in 899 games and had a .259 batting average.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Office, Rowland 1952 births Living people Baseball players from Sacramento, California Baseball players from Atlanta Atlanta Braves players Montreal Expos players New York Yankees players Major League Baseball center fielders African-American baseball players Sacramento City College alumni Greenwood Braves players Savannah Braves players Richmond Braves players Oklahoma City 89ers players Columbus Clippers players American expatriate baseball players in Canada 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople