Russell Loren Meacham (born January 27, 1968) is a 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 professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. 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) ...

between 1991 and 2001.

Professional career

Early career

Meacham was drafted by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in the 33rd round of the

1987 Major League Baseball Draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional cont ...

Major league career

He made his major league debut for the Tigers in 1991, and was used as both a starter and

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

. Meacham had the most relief wins in the AL in 1992 with 10. During the remainder of his major league career, he was used almost exclusively in relief, with the exception of five starts in 1996 while he was with 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 ...

. After spending three entire seasons (1997-99) in Triple-A, Meacham resurfaced with 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 ...

in May 2000.

Independent leagues

After his MLB career ended in 2001, Meacham continued to pitch in independent leagues for several years. Meacham was a player in the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the organ ...

playing for the

Yuma Scorpions Yuma can refer to: Places * Yuma Desert, desert in southwest U.S. and northwest Mexico ;United States * Yuma County, Arizona ** Yuma, Arizona ** Fortuna Foothills, Arizona ** Marine Corps Air Station Yuma ** United States Army Yuma Proving Ground ...

for two seasons. Meacham then retired and became their first base coach for one year, then he left Yuma to be the pitching coach for the

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont. From 1994 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL). They play their home games at Centennial Field, ...

. He was released after the 2008 season, even though he helped the Lake Monsters to one of the lowest ERAs of the league. Meacham returned to pitch in one game for the GBL's

Tijuana Cimarrones The Tijuana Cimarrones were a professional independent baseball franchise based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. They were originally a minor league baseball team in Liga Mexicana de Béisbol (Mexican Baseball League), but joined the Golden B ...

in 2010.

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Physics-Pitching-Paperback-DVD-Psychology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meacham, Rusty 1968 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Florida Bristol Tigers players Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Fayetteville Generals players Grosseto Baseball Club players American expatriate baseball players in Italy Houston Astros players Indian River State Pioneers baseball players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Royals players Lakeland Tigers players London Tigers players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Redbirds players Nashua Pride players Nashville Sounds players New Orleans Zephyrs players Omaha Royals players Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Stuart, Florida Sportspeople from Martin County, Florida Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Tijuana Cimarrones players Toledo Mud Hens players Yuma Scorpions players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Chinatrust Whales players