Eric Girard Yelding (born February 22, 1965) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played all or parts of five seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

from 1989-93. Known for his blazing speed and strong arm, he played several different positions, most often at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

and in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the cen ...

Minor leagues

Yelding was a star athlete at

Fairhope High School Fairhope High School (FHS) is a public secondary school located in Fairhope, Alabama. Fairhope High School is a part of the Baldwin County Public Schools system. They service grades 9– 12. Fairhope High school offers not only sports, but a b ...

Fairhope, Alabama Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The population was 22,477 at the 2020 census. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area, which in ...

, and was later drafted in the 1st round of the 1984 MLB amateur draft out of

Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed sever ...

by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. He made an immediate impact with his speed and arm, stealing 93 bases and adding 19 outfield assists in his first 200 games with the

Medicine Hat Blue Jays The Medicine Hat Blue Jays were a Rookie League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, playing in the Pioneer League and located in the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. They played a total of 25 seasons; 1978 through 2002. Their home field was ...

and

Kinston Blue Jays The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Kin ...

. Because of his strong arm, he was moved to shortstop the following season with the Ventura County Gulls. Although he found success with the bat and on the basepaths, hitting .280 with 41 steals, he made 58 fielding errors. He divided the 1987 year between the

Myrtle Beach Blue Jays The Myrtle Beach Blue Jays were a minor league baseball team based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They began play in the South Atlantic League in 1987 after being relocated from Florence, South Carolina ( Florence Blue Jays). They played at the ...

and Double-A Knoxville Blue Jays, where he stole a combined 83 bases, though his fielding did not improve as he made another 59 errors. Despite being a liability in the infield, his prowess on the basepaths earned him a promotion to the AAA

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

where he was moved to second base in an attempt to alleviate his fielding woes. Although his play in the field was still suspect, he did cut his season error total to 35 while hitting .250 and stealing 59 bases for the Chiefs.

Major leagues

Houston Astros

On December 5, 1988, Yelding was selected by the Chicago Cubs from Toronto in the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He was waived by the Cubs and selected off waivers by the Houston Astros the following April. In order to satisfy the Rule 5 terms, the Astros were mandated to either keep Yelding on the major league club for the entire season or forfeit their rights to him. Faced with the dilemma of having a player not yet ready for everyday play on their roster, but not wanting to lose their rights to what they considered a future star, the Astros used Yelding primarily as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) 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, A ...

and

pinch runner In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been s ...

. He appeared in 70 games, but played the field in only 38 of them and recorded just 102

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s. The Astros' patience with Yelding paid early dividends, as he became their full-time leadoff hitter in 1990 and finished second in the National League with 64 stolen bases. Though he improved and even showed flashes of brilliance in the field, his defense was still subpar though he did show his versatility by appearing at second base, third base, shortstop, and in the outfield. Unfortunately, 1990 would be his last full season in the major leagues. He missed half on 1991 due to injury and struggled when healthy. He had only 8 at-bats for the Astros in 1992, spending most of the season with the AAA

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

. On July 10, 1992, he was traded to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in exchange for

Rich Scheid Richard Paul Scheid (born February 3, 1965) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Houston Astros (1992) and Florida Marlins (1994–1995) of Major League Baseball (MLB). Scheid attended Seton Hall University, wh ...

. He finished the 1992 season with the

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bail ...

before being released by the White Sox at the end of the season. He was signed by the

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

during the winter, but released during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 1993 before being signed for the second time by the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago Cubs

Yelding was used by the Cubs primarily as a utility infielder and pinch hitter/runner. Although his fielding had greatly improved since his early days with the Astros (with two errors in 32 games at second base in 1993), he struggled with the bat, hitting .204. He missed a large part of the 1993 season due to injury, as well as the following year, in which he appeared in 29 games with the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

. He never appeared in another major league baseball game, although he did play in spring training as a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an sportsperson, athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a Strike action, strike or Lockout (industry), lockout, serving as a strikebre ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

during the

1994 Major League Baseball strike The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitting ...

. Yelding spent 1995 and 1996 in the Indians and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

minor league systems between stints in independent leagues. He made one final comeback attempt in 1999, playing for two independent teams, before retiring for good.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelding, Eric 1965 births Living people Abilene Prairie Dogs players Adirondack Lumberjacks players African-American baseball players Altoona Rail Kings players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Alabama Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Canton-Akron Indians players Chicago Cubs players Chipola Indians baseball players Houston Astros players Iowa Cubs players Kinston Blue Jays players Knoxville Blue Jays players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball shortstops Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Nashua Pride players Myrtle Beach Blue Jays players Sportspeople from Baldwin County, Alabama Sioux Falls Canaries players Syracuse Chiefs players Tacoma Rainiers players Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players Ventura County Gulls players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen