Samuel Elías Mejías '' ay-hee'-ahs' (born May 9, 1952) is a former backup

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 c ...

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) ...

who played from through for 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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals h ...

(1976),

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They p ...

(1977–78),

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 ...

(1979) and

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 ...

(1979–81). Listed at 6'0", 170 lb., Mejías batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He was born in

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Prov ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. His brother, Marcos Mejias also played professional baseball.

Baseball career

Minor Leagues

Mejias was signed as a minor league free agent on October 24, 1970 by 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 ...

Brewers. On June 23, 1976 the Brewers sent Sam Mejias to the

to complete the earlier deal made on June 7, 1976. (June 7, 1976: The Milwaukee Brewers sent a player to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for Danny Frisella).

St Louis Cardinals

Mejias made his Major League debut on September 6, 1976. He would play 17 games for the Cardinals, batting .143.

Montreal Expos

He was traded along with

Bill Greif William Briley Greif (born April 25, 1950) is a retired professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1971 to 1976, for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and St. Louis Cardinals. Astros G ...

and Ángel Torres from the Cardinals to the

for

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...

, Steve Dunning and Pat Scanlon on November 8, 1976.

Cincinnati Reds

Mejias' contract was purchased by the

. Mejias only appeared in 7 games for the Reds in 1979, but he had two serviceable years as a part time player for the Reds in 1980 and 1981 batting .278 and .286 respectively. He was released by the Reds after their 1981 season.

Career

In a six-season career, Mejías was a .247 hitter (86-for-348) with four

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 31

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

in 334 games, including 51 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, and eight stolen bases. Mejias was more known for his defensive abilities than offensive aptitude.

Post career

Following his playing career, Mejías managed from to in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system, and later coached in the majors for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(-) 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 ...

().

References

External links

1952 births Living people Baltimore Orioles coaches Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Eugene Emeralds managers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players People from Santiago de los Caballeros St. Louis Cardinals players Seattle Mariners coaches Danville Warriors players Indianapolis Indians players Newark Co-Pilots players Piratas de Campeche players Shreveport Captains players Spokane Indians players Thetford Mines Miners players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico {{DominicanRepublic-baseball-outfielder-stub