Cecil Espy

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Cecil Espy

|image=Cecil Espy Rangers.jpg

|position=Outfielder

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1963|1|20}}

|birth_place=San Diego, California, U.S.

|bats=Switch

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 2

|debutyear=1983

|debutteam=Los Angeles Dodgers

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 13

|finalyear=1993

|finalteam=Cincinnati Reds

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.244

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=7

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=108

|teams=

Los Angeles Dodgers ({{mlby|1983}})
Texas Rangers ({{mlby|1987}}–{{mlby|1990}})
Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|1991}}–{{mlby|1992}})
Cincinnati Reds ({{mlby|1993}})

}}

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.

Career

Espy was a first-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft, the eighth player chosen, ahead of such other first-round picks as Kelly Gruber (10th overall), Terry Francona (22nd overall) and Billy Beane (23rd overall). He was traded in the spring of 1982 along with Bert Geiger to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Rudy Law.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19820331&id=QYdUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PY8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4439,7159338&hl=en Dodgers, Chisox trade]{{Cite web |title=Cecil Espy Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=espyce01 |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}

Making his big-league debut at age 20 on September 2, 1983, with the Dodgers as a late-season call-up, Espy appeared in 11 games. He then had to wait until 1987 to return to the majors.{{Cite web |title=Cecil Espy Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/espyce01.shtml |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}

On August 31, 1985, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded disgruntled veteran infielder Bill Madlock to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three player(s)-to-be-named-later.{{Cite web |title=Bill Madlock Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/madlobi01.shtml |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=1985-08-31 |title=The Pirates trade former batting champion Bill Madlock to the Dodgers for prospects R.J. Reynolds, Cecil Espy, and Sid Bream. - This Day In Baseball |url=https://thisdayinbaseball.com/the-pirates-trade-former-batting-champion-bill-madlock-to-the-dodgers-for-prospects-r-j-reynolds-cecil-espy-and-sid-bream/ |access-date=2023-12-30 |language=en-US}} The first PTBNL was Utility man R.J. Reynolds, who was sent from LA to Pittsburgh on September 3. Nearly a week later on September 9th, Espy was sent to Pittsburgh alongside Sid Bream as the last two PTBNL's.{{Cite web |title=R.J. Reynolds Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reynor.01.shtml |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}

Before Espy got a chance to play in the Major Leagues with Pittsburgh, he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 1986 Rule 5 Draft. He played in 14 games in 1987, but did not record a hit. In 1988, he saw much more action on the field, getting into 123 games. He slashed .248/.288/.349 and swiped 33 bags. He finished the season with an 8th-place finish in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. His 1989 season with Texas was arguably the best of his career, where he slashed .257/.313/.331 while stealing a career-high 45 bases (while also getting caught a league-leading 20 times). Espy was granted free agency after a poor 1990 campaign.

He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he played 43 & 112 games in 1991 & 1992, respectively. Manager Jim Leyland liked using Espy as a role player who could come off the bench whenever he was needed, whether that be as a pinch hitter, pinch runner, or a defensive replacement.{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=Richard |title=The Slide: Leyland, Bonds & The Star-Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates |last2=Peterson |first2=Stephen |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8229-6444-5 |pages=132 |language=en}} Pittsburgh placed him on unconditional release waivers after the 1992 season, where he was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds.{{Cite web |title=Pirates trade Lind, release four others |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/11/20/pirates-trade-lind-release-four-others/ |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}

He played in 40 games before being released by the Reds in 1993.

In 546 games over eight seasons, Espy posted a .244 batting average (304-for-1248) with 160 runs, 7 home runs, 108 RBI and 103 stolen bases. He recorded a .976 fielding percentage as an outfielder.{{Cite web |title=Cecil Espy Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News |url=https://www.mlb.com/player/cecil-espy-113906 |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}