For the football player of the same name see Greg Jeffries (football player). Gregory Lemont Jeffries (born October 16, 1971 in High Point North Carolina) is a former American football safety in the
| Gregg Jefferies | ||
|---|---|---|
| Infielder, Outfielder | ||
| Born: August 1, 1967 Burlingame, California |
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| Batted: Switch | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| September 6, 1987 for the New York Mets |
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| Final game | ||
| May 29, 2000 for the Detroit Tigers |
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| Career statistics | ||
| AVG | . Baseball teams take turns one "out" in the field and one "in" at bat Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in Baseball farthest from the batter Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Events 3114 BC - According to the Proleptic Julian calendar the current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar started Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) "Mets" redirects here For the medical term see Metastasis. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 289 | |
| HR | 126 | |
| RBIs | 663 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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Gregory Scott Jefferies (born August 1, 1967 in Burlingame, California) is a former infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year career from 1987 to 2000. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Baseball teams take turns one "out" in the field and one "in" at bat Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in Baseball farthest from the batter
Growing up in Millbrae, California and attending Millbrae grammar school and Taylor Junior High Jeffries was commonly seen on the baseball field often competing successfully against much older kids in the neighborhood. Drafted by the Mets out of Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California in the first round of the 1985 amateur draft (#20 overall), Jefferies burned up the minor leagues, hitting . Junípero Serra High School (commonly Serra or JSHS) is a private Secondary school in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo ( "san muh-TAY-o") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. 331 with decent power and good speed, rocketing from Kingsport of the Appalachian League (rookie) to Jackson of the Texas League (AA) in just two years. The Appalachian League is a Rookie-class minor league that began play in 1937 with one year of inactivity in 1956 The Texas League is a Minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. He was named Minor League Player of the Year for both 1986 and 1987, hitting a robust . 367 with 20 home runs, 48 doubles and 101 RBI for Jackson in the latter year, earning Jefferies a cup of coffee with the big club at the end of the 1987 season. He went 3 for 6 in 6 games, all at the tender age of 19, making him the youngest player in the Major Leagues that season, as Mets fans salivate in anticipation.
Convinced of his budding greatness, the Mets decided they needed to make room for the lad. The only problem was, the Mets didn't really know where to play him, as the veteran squad was full at the spots Jefferies played in the minor leagues (shortstop, third base and second base). The stellar all-around play of Howard Johnson and the solid defense and occasional bat of Kevin Elster made it difficult for him to see time at third base or shortstop, respectively, and the team already had a platoon of veterans Tim Teufel and Wally Backman at second base in place. Howard Michael Johnson (born November 29, 1960) nicknamed HoJo, is a former switch hitting Third baseman in Major League Baseball Kevin Daniel Elster (born August 3, 1964) in San Pedro California, is a retired Major League Baseball Shortstop. Timothy Shawn Teufel (born July 7 1958) is a former Second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Minnesota Twins Walter 'Wally' Wayne Backman (born September 22, 1959 in Hillsboro Oregon) is a former Major League Baseball player The outfield was full also, with the team finding it difficult to get popular outfielders Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson playing time alongside superstar Darryl Strawberry and the ever solid Kevin McReynolds, so any thoughts of that option were quickly dropped and Jefferies was sent to AAA Tidewater to start the 1988 season. Leonard Kyle (Lenny Dykstra (ˈdaɪkstɹə born February 10, 1963 in Santa Ana, California, and also known as Nails or The William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson (born February 9 1956) is a former Major League Baseball Center fielder who played with the New Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is a former Baseball player who is well-known both for his play on the baseball field and for his controversial Walter Kevin McReynolds (born October 16 1959 Little Rock, Arkansas) is a former Major League Baseball Outfielder with
After spending most of the 1988 season at AAA (where he hit 'just' . 282 with less power), Jefferies was recalled at the end of August and allowed to play out the year as a starter, mostly at third base. He responded by hitting . 321 with good power over the last 29 games of the 1988 season, giving Mets fans something extra to cheer about as the team rolled to a 100-60 record to take the NL East that year. His subsequent solid play in the NLCS versus the Los Angeles Dodgers that year only made the Mets faithful even more intent on believing Jefferies was the future of the ballclub, so the Mets front office made it their mission to open up a roster spot for the budding superstar. The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA
The Mets finally made it happen after the season when they traded Backman to the Minnesota Twins, leaving the second base open for Jefferies and the beginning of a new future. The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But Jefferies faltered, hitting just . 258 with little selectivity as a rookie in 1989, far below the team's expectations, and he became unpopular with teammates and fans for his incessant whining and lack of production. On May 24, 1991, Jefferies pleaded his case in an open letter read on WFAN, New York's sports radio station. Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. WFAN (660 AM) also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a Radio station in New York City.
In the letter, Jefferies wrote: "When a pitcher is having trouble getting players out, when a hitter is having trouble hitting, or when a player makes an error, I try to support them in whatever way I can. I don't run to the media to belittle them or to draw more attention to their difficult times. I can only hope that one day those teammates who have found it convenient to criticize me will realize that we are all in this together. If only we can concentrate more on the games than complaining and bickering and pointing fingers, we would all be better off. " This did little more than annoy his teammates further while burying himself with team's fan base, who put the 22 year old in their dog house and never let him out afterwards.
The 1990 baseball season would be kinder to Jefferies on the field, as he raised his batting average up to . 283 while scoring 96 runs and hitting 40 doubles, but the team finished 2nd for the second straight year and it seemed nothing he did was ever good enough for the fan base, who viewed him as something more than he really was. He slipped down again in 1991, hitting . 272 with just 30 extra base hits in 486 at bats as the team slipped to 5th place and, at age 23, it looked like his time was already up in New York. That offseason the team traded him, along with McReynolds and infielder Keith Miller, to the Kansas City Royals for former allstar pitcher Bret Saberhagen and utility man Bill Pecota, ending his miserable stay in Flushing and forever labeling him a disappointment in the Big Apple. The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. Bret William Saberhagen (ˈseɪ̪bɚˌheɪ̪ɡɨn born April 11, 1964 in Chicago Heights Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed Flushing, founded in 1645 is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, ten miles (16 km east of Manhattan
After playing the 1992 season with the Royals, he moved on to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would have his two best seasons, batting . The St Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards " or "the Redbirds " are a professional Baseball team based in St 342 and . 325, respectively, while finding a home at first base and being named to the National League All-Star team in both the 1993 and 1994 seasons. He signed a lucrative contract with the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1994 season due to a dispute over a no-trade clause the Cardinals wouldn't give him, and he moved to the outfield for the Phillies, where he performed adequately over the 1995, 1996 and 1997 seasons, but injuries to his thumb and hamstring effected him greatly and he never did post the kind of numbers the team envisioned when they signed him. In 1998, he was traded mid-season to the Anaheim Angels, where he hit . The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. 347 in 19 games before moving to the Detroit Tigers the next year. The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA He hit a collective . 231 for the Tigers over two seasons before he retired in 2000.
For his career, Jefferies had a career . 289 batting average with 126 home runs, 663 RBIs and 196 stolen bases. He never reached the expectations thrust upon him in the mid-80s, and is still thought of unkindly in Mets circles to this day.
Jefferies now resides in Pleasanton, California with his wife Jeannie Marshall, a 1999 graduate of neighboring Foothill High School and Cal State East Bay. Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, incorporated in 1894 Foothill High School (FHS is a four-year Secondary school in Pleasanton California. California State University East Bay (also known as CSUEB, Cal State East Bay, and formerly known as California State University Hayward) is a campus
See also
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
| Preceded by Greg Maddux 1986 |
Youngest Player in the National League 1987 |
Succeeded by Ramón Martínez 1988 |
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