David Alexander Liddell (born June 15, 1966 in Los Angeles) is a former

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) ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

. He caught one game for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

in 1990. He hit a single in his only Major League

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 ...

, on June 3, 1990, giving him a lifetime

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 i ...

of 1.000. His Major League

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 ...

and

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 ...

are also 1.000. His at bat came in the 8th inning of a game against 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) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

as a

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

for Mets' catcher

Mackey Sasser Mack Daniel Sasser (born August 3, 1962), nicknamed "The Hacker", is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1987 through 1995 for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets and Se ...

against

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 ...

Pat Combs. His hit came on the only Major League pitch he ever faced; author George Rose estimates that his Major League career as a hitter thus lasted only about 20 seconds. He scored a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop grou ...

later in the inning. He also caught one inning with one

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or '' fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

for a lifetime

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

of 1.000. Liddell had been called up to the majors on June 3 due to the death of backup catcher Orlando Mercado's father. Pitcher Wally Whitehurst was sent to the minors to clear roster space for Liddell and after the minimum ten days that Whitehurst was required to remain in the minors, Whitehurst was recalled and Liddell was sent back to the

Tidewater Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

for the remainder of the season. Christine, Ed. "Doubleheader strategy double-crosses Mets", ''

The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett. ''The Journal News'' was created through a merger of ...

'', White Plains, New York, 12 June 1990. After the 1990 season, he was signed by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, but he never played in the Reds' system. Liddell was a 4th round draft pick of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

in 1984 – the 83rd overall pick in the draft – after attending

Rubidoux High School Rubidoux High School is a four-year public high school in Jurupa Valley, California. It is part of the Jurupa Unified School District, and it opened in 1959. It is one of four high schools in the district, the others being Jurupa Valley High Sch ...

in Riverdale, California. He was traded to Mets with minor league pitcher Dave Lenderman on June 30, 1986 in exchange for pitcher Ed Lynch. He also played in the

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) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

' and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

' organizations. In 529 minor league games between 1984 and 1992 he had a batting average of .215 with 24

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 is ...

s and at least 109

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 ba ...

in 1505 at bats. He had a minor league

of .309. He also pitched in one game for the unaffiliated

Reno Silver Sox The Reno Silver Sox were a minor league baseball team that existed on and off from 1947 to 1992. The team name is derived from the nickname of Nevada, the "Silver State". There was another baseball team known as the Reno Silver Sox who played i ...

in 1988, giving up one

in 2/3 of an

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

. He also played as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

in 13 games over the course of his minor league career. Liddell played in 18 games for the 1986

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

champion Columbia Mets and 32 games for the 1991 American Association champion Denver Zephyrs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liddell, Dave 1966 births New York Mets players Major League Baseball catchers Tidewater Tides players St. Lucie Mets players Jackson Mets players Reno Silver Sox players Lynchburg Mets players Columbia Mets players Pikeville Cubs players Peoria Chiefs players Denver Zephyrs players El Paso Diablos players Rochester Red Wings players Living people Baseball players from Los Angeles