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 catch ...

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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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

(1976),

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 ...

(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 a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1979) and

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 ...

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

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. He was born in

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros ("James, son of Zebedee, 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 ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. 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. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

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 and Ángel Torres from the Cardinals to the

for

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, 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 Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 31 RBI in 334 games, including 51 runs, 13 doubles, two

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, and eight

stolen base 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 ...

s. 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. 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 ...

(-) and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

().

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 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players Baseball players 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