Robert James Reynolds (born April 19, 1959) is a former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

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 ...

. He played with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and the

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

, from 1983 to 1990. He also played in Japan for the

Yokohama Taiyo Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current n ...

and

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Sta ...

, from 1991 to 1993.

Career

Reynolds broke in as a

September call-up A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

with the Dodgers in 1983. On September 11, Reynolds' suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning helped the Dodgers defeat the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

amid the pennant race. The Dodgers finished three games ahead of the second-place Braves. Reynolds spent 1984 and most of 1985 with the Dodgers, playing in more than half the team's games. On August 31, 1985, just before the

trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft ...

, the Dodgers obtained third baseman

Bill Madlock Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League ...

from the Pirates to shore up their run for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. Three days later, Reynolds was sent to Pittsburgh (along with

Cecil Espy Cecil Edward Espy (born January 20, 1963) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds in 1983 and 1987–1993. Ca ...

and

Sid Bream Sidney Eugene Bream (born August 3, 1960) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. From 1983 through 1994, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1983–85), Pittsburgh Pirates (1985–90), Atlant ...

) as 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 ...

. Leading off the Pirates 1986 season opener, Reynolds hit a home run off of 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 ...

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 ...

.Boxscore from Baseball Almanac
/ref> He played in all six games of the

1990 NLCS The 1990 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff series in Major League Baseball’s 1990 Major League Baseball postseason, 1990 postseason played between the 1990 Cincinnati Reds season, Cincinnati Reds (91–71) and the ...

, getting two

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

and two walks in ten

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 upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s as the Pirates fell to the eventual champion

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 ...

. After the 1990 season, Reynolds did not re-sign with the Pirates or any other Major League team. He played for three years in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

before retiring at age 34. In 786 games over eight seasons, Reynolds posted a .267

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 is ...

(605-for-2270) with 288 runs, 35

home runs 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 ...

, 294

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

, 109

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

and 190

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. He finished his career with a .973

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

playing at all three outfield positions.

Notes

External links

1959 births Living people African-American baseball managers African-American baseball players Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Sacramento, California Kintetsu Buffaloes players Leones de Yucatán players Lodi Dodgers players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Pittsburgh Pirates players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Sacramento City Panthers baseball players San Antonio Dodgers players Sultanes de Monterrey players Vero Beach Dodgers players Yokohama Taiyō Whales players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub