James Wellington Stoops (born June 30, 1972) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

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who played 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) ...

for one season with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

in three games during the 1998 season. Stoops attended Franklin High School in the

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section of

Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey Franklin Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 62 ...

. He did not receive any scholarship offers to play

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but was able to walk on to the baseball team at the University of South Carolina. Stoops was never selected in the

Major League Baseball draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

but signed a minor league contract with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

; he had impressed a Giants scout by pitching a scoreless relief outing against the top-ranked

1995 Clemson Tigers baseball team The 1995 Clemson Tigers baseball team represented Clemson University in the 1995 NCAA Division I baseball season. The team played their home games at Beautiful Tiger Field in Clemson, South Carolina. The team was coached by Jack Leggett, who com ...

. On July 31, 1998, the Giants traded Stoops to the Rockies along with

Darryl Hamilton Darryl Quinn Hamilton (December 3, 1964 – June 21, 2015) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1988 and 2001 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Colorado R ...

and a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in exchange for

Ellis Burks Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. Surname A * Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series '' ...

. Prior to the trade, he had never played above

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

and was 3.5 years older than his average teammate on the 1999

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants g ...

. On September 7, 1998, Stoops was added to the Rockies' Major League roster along with Lariel González,

Edgard Clemente Edgard Alexis Velazquez Clemente (born December 15, 1975) is a former professional baseball outfielder. He is the nephew of Hall of Fame baseball legend Roberto Clemente. Career Clemente was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round of t ...

Derrick Gibson Derrick Gibson (born March 22, 1979) is a former NFL safety who played his entire career for the Oakland Raiders. He was drafted by the Raiders in the first round (28th overall) in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State ...

and

Mark Strittmatter Mark Arthur Strittmatter (born April 4, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player and current coach for the Colorado Rockies. College Strittmatter played baseball at the County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey, for two ye ...

. He made his Major League debut on September 9, pitching a scoreless inning in relief of

Curt Leskanic Curtis John Leskanic (; born April 2, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During a 12-year baseball career, he pitched from 1993 to 2004 for the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals and Boston Red ...

against the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The sta ...

. Stoops appeared in just two more games that season and in his Major League career. His only

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came on September 11 against his original team, the Giants. Stoops returned to the minor leagues following the 1998 season. In 2001, he joined the farm system of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

. He was out of baseball in 2002 and 2003 before signing with the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "part ...

of the

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Atlantic League in May 2004 in a comeback attempt. The 2004 season would be his last as a professional baseball player.

References

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1972 births Living people Baseball players from New Jersey Bellingham Giants players Carolina Mudcats players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Columbus Clippers players Franklin High School (New Jersey) alumni Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers Norwich Navigators players Pennsylvania Road Warriors players People from Edison, New Jersey Salem Avalanche players San Jose Giants players South Carolina Gamecocks baseball players Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub