Floyd Everett Youmans (born May 11, 1964) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), 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, ...

. He pitched all or part 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 ...

from 1985–89. He is one of the players dealt by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

for

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

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 catc ...

Gary Carter Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "Kid" for his youth ...

Career

New York Mets

Youmans was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and was a childhood friend and Hillsborough High School teammate of former Mets pitcher

Dwight Gooden Dwight Eugene Gooden (born November 16, 1964), nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the ...

before moving with his family to

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It ...

. He was drafted by the Mets in the second round of the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft, one round after the club selected Gooden. He and Gooden were teammates on the Kingsport Mets in 1982. With the

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 h ...

's Columbia Mets in 1983, Youmans went 12-3 with a 3.42

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. After splitting the 1984 season between the Lynchburg and

Jackson Mets The Jackson Mets were a professional baseball team based in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1975 through 1990. As of 2010, they were the longest-tenured club to be based in the Jackson metropolitan area. For their entire sixteen seasons of existence, ...

, Youmans was traded on December 10, to the Montreal Expos along with Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald and Herm Winningham for future Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter.

Montreal Expos

Youmans made his major league debut in the middle of the following season, starting on July 1, 1985, against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. For the season, Youmans went 4-3 with a team-best 2.45 ERA. One of those wins came on the second to last day of the season against

Ron Darling Ronald Maurice Darling Jr. (born August 19, 1960) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from to , including as a member of ...

and the New York Mets in front of 45,404 at

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

in 5.1 innings, and drawing a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

in his first at-bat against Gooden. However, they would face off again on August 1, and this time Gooden would emerge victorious. In the hard-throwing right-hander's first full season as a member of the rotation full-time, Youmans threw five double-digit strikeout games and finishing third in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

with 202

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. He also led the league with 118 bases on balls, however, limiting his effectiveness and contributing to a 13-12 win–loss record. Youmans' 1987 season was plagued with injuries, as he visited the disabled list three times. However, he still managed to make 23 starts for the Expos and went 4-1 with a 1.13 ERA and three

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s in the month of July to earn

Pitcher of the Month honors.

Drug rehab

After the 1987 season, Youmans checked into an alcohol rehabilitation center under speculation that he had been forced to do so by Commissioner

Peter Ueberroth Peter Victor Ueberroth (; born September 2, 1937) is an American sports and business executive known for his involvement in the Olympics and in Major League Baseball. A Los Angeles–based businessman, he was the chairman of the Los Angeles Ol ...

. Youmans was 3-6 with a 3.21 ERA when his 1988 season was cut short on June 25 by an indefinite suspension for "failing to comply with his drug-testing program." On August 10, the suspension was reduced to sixty days, and the following day, Youmans admitted during a news conference to having used

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 6, 1988, Youmans was traded to the

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

with Jeff Parrett for Kevin Gross. His 1989 season was marked by injuries, as he was on the disabled list for most of May and pitched his last game on June 24, ending the season with a 1-5 record and 5.70 ERA. He had arthroscopic shoulder surgery on August 22, and never pitched at the major league level again.

Comeback attempts

Youmans pitched for the independent Sullivan Mountain Lions and Newburgh Night Hawks of the

Northeast League The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two le ...

in 1995, and became a coach for the Catskill Cougars the following season. He became interim manager of the club during the 1997 season when Edgar Perez was fired as manager on August 4. He again attempted a comeback in 2003 at age 39 with the Canadian Baseball League's Saskatoon Legends, but only pitched five games before the league folded. In 2008 and 2009, Youmans was the pitching coach for the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Youmans, Floyd Major League Baseball pitchers American expatriate baseball players in Canada Montreal Expos players Philadelphia Phillies players Kingsport Mets players Columbia Mets players Lynchburg Mets players Jackson Mets players Jacksonville Expos players Indianapolis Indians players Newburgh Night Hawks players Sullivan Mountain Lions players Saskatoon Legends players Baseball players from Tampa, Florida African-American baseball players Baseball players suspended for drug offenses 1964 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen