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It took him four years to make it to the majors, and then only as a late-season callup who got into just 14 games. In 15 at-bats, he hit .067. The next season he got into more games, 25, but had even fewer at-bats, just 9, all outs. He didn't make an appearance in the major leagues in 1976, but just after the World Series the Padres, abandoning hope that he’d ever deliver on his prodigious promise, sold him along with Dave Hilton and Dave Roberts to a team that didn’t even quite exist yet. The expansion draft that would stock the roster of that team had yet to occur, and only Phil Roof, who had been acquired the day before, preceded the erstwhile Padres trio as members of the Toronto Blue Jays. In fact, you could make a case that John Scott was the very first Toronto Blue Jay, as he batted lead-off in their first ever regular season game, April 7, 1977, against the Chicago White Sox. This first-ever Toronto Blue Jays at-bat ended in a strikeout. Scott went 1 for 5 in that game, a fairly accurate preview of a season in which he logged 233 at-bats and hit .240 with 2 home runs and a .266 on base percentage. And that was it for John Scott and the majors.
At some point during his lone extended chance to prove that he could cut it as a major leaguer, this photograph was taken of John Scott staring directly at his bat.
Why have you abandoned me? Where have you gone? I’m begging you. I’m ordering you. I’m begging you. I’m ordering you. I’ll turn you into ash. I’ll build you a shrine. I love you. Don’t leave me. I hate you. Don’t leave me.
Failure is never a stranger for long.
***
(Love versus Hate update: John Scott's back-of-the-card "Play Ball" result has been added to the ongoing contest.)
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/06/28/first-class/
perhaps way too generic a name?
(didn't flip a switch for me either)
After a few rounds he stepped out of the cage and looked at us. We told him "damn, that was amazing," or something like that. He was soft spoken and told us his story of being drafted from high school as a top prospect, mostly played in the minors and played "a little bit in the big leagues." I have always remembered his explanation of the hardships of pro-ball. There wasn't much money in it and it was a hard life. He told us that he was the top player in his county, but what he soon realized that in the pros he was facing the top players from everywhere. He was an African-American man, with a slender build and a little moustache. And the look on his face was one of the saddest I have ever seen. He hit one more round, left the cage, waved at us and drove off.
I always wondered who that guy was and who he played for. Maybe someday his Cardboard God will pop up, that would be cool. The effect that his talk with us had immediately made me realize how damn good even a minor league player was. From that point on I realized just how hard it was to make in the major leagues. Maybe that beat-up old Monte Carlo was what was left of his signing bonus I have often wondered. A guy who never quite made it, who couldn't pass up the odd batting cage he would occasionally drive by. Just to prove that he could hit the ball much harder and further than 95% of the world.
Josh, this post really brought back that moment for me. Thanks.
Is it at all possible that the guy you saw at the batting cage was actually John Scott? According to this card his place of residence was Los Angeles, CA. What he told you of his experiences certainly matches Scott's bio.
No problem on the Yeager, I figured that you and the other readers would like the article.
www.sabr.org
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