Stanley Jefferson (born December 4, 1962) is an American former
center and
left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...
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 ...
who played for 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 ...
,
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
,
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
,
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 ...
,
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
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 ...
from to .
[Stan Jefferson]
- Baseballbiography.com
Early life and education
Jefferson, who grew up in
Co-Op City
Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...
in
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
and played many years in the
Co-Op City Little League, graduated from
Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx in 1980. He attended
Bethune-Cookman College in
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...
from 1981 to 1983, and later obtained his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
at
Mercy College in
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Dobbs Ferry is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2021, its population rose to an estimated 11,456. The ...
.
[Coffey, Wayne]
Former Met Stanley Jefferson struggles to cope with horror of life as 9/11 cop"
''New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'', March 9, 2007. Accessed June 18, 2007.
Career
Professional baseball
Jefferson displayed impressive speed and agility and was selected 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 ...
in the first round (20th pick overall) of the
free agent draft on June 6, 1983. After playing in the
minors for three years, Jefferson played in 14 games for the Mets during the last month of the 1986 season.
On December 11, 1986, the Mets traded Jefferson,
Kevin Mitchell,
Shawn Abner, Kevin Armstrong, and Kevin Brown to the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
for
Kevin McReynolds,
Gene Walter, and Adam Ging.
Though he became a regular in the Padres outfield in 1987, he clashed with manager
Larry Bowa
Lawrence Robert Bowa (born December 6, 1945) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. Bowa went on to ...
in May and spent much of the first half on the
disabled list
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...
. Jefferson
stole 33 bases and batted .230 that year.
In 1988, Jefferson performed poorly, batting .144 over 111
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, ...
s. At the end of the season he was traded with
Jimmy Jones and
Lance McCullers to the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
for
Jack Clark and
Pat Clements. He logged 12 at-bats with the Yankees before being traded to the Orioles in July 1989. For the next year and a half, he played intermittently for the
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 ...
,
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
, 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 ...
. Jefferson’s career ended in 1991 after suffering a career ending injury to his Achilles’ tendon.
Jefferson later became a coach for
Butte Cooper Kings of the
Pioneer League. When the
player's strike threatened the season, Jefferson became a maligned
replacement player
In professional sports, a replacement player is an sportsperson, athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a Strike action, strike or Lockout (industry), lockout, serving as a strikebre ...
for his original team, sharing the outfield with fellow ex-Met
Herm Winningham.
NYPD
In 1997, following his professional baseball career, Jefferson joined the
New York City Police Department
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
. He was on duty during the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, and worked at
Ground Zero
A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...
after the collapse of the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may also refer to:
Buildings
* World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...
. He suffered health problems as a result of his time at Ground Zero, and retired from the NYPD in 2004.
Personal life
Jefferson lives in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and has two grown daughters who live in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. During the peak of his career, Jefferson shied away from the spotlight and preferred a private, low key profile. In 2016, in an interview on
SNY, he reflected on his baseball career and his career as an NYPD officer, addressing his experience during the September 11 terrorist attacks. In 2018, Jefferson was recognized for his athletic and heroic contributions by Bethune-Cookman University and was inducted into their Hall of Fame alongside other accomplished alumni.
[
]
References
External links
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Stan
1962 births
Living people
Major League Baseball center fielders
New York Mets players
San Diego Padres players
New York Yankees players
Baltimore Orioles players
Cleveland Indians players
Cincinnati Reds players
African-American baseball players
Major League Baseball replacement players
Little Falls Mets players
Lynchburg Mets players
Jackson Mets players
Bethune–Cookman Wildcats baseball players
Tidewater Tides players
Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players
Columbus Clippers players
Rochester Red Wings players
Colorado Springs Sky Sox players
Nashville Sounds players
Baseball players from New York City
New York City Police Department officers
People from Co-op City, Bronx
Mercy University alumni
21st-century African-American sportsmen
20th-century African-American sportsmen
20th-century American sportsmen