John Stearns

Infobox MLB retired
name=John Stearns
position=Catcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1951|8|21
city-state|Denver|Colorado
debutdate=September 22
debutyear=by|1974
debutteam=Philadelphia Phillies
finaldate=September 30
finalyear=by|1984
finalteam=New York Mets
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.260
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=46
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=312
teams=
* Philadelphia Phillies (by|1974)
* New York Mets (by|1975-by|1984)
highlights=
*Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round (second pick overall) (by|1973)
*Four Time All-Star (by|1977, by|1979, by|1980 & by|1982)

John Hardin Stearns (born August 21, by|1951) is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets from by|1975 to by|1984 (he also played a single game for the Philadelphia Phillies in by|1974). He was one of the best players on one of the worst franchises of his era, representing the Mets in four All-Star Games while the team flirted with 100 losses all four seasons.

Stearns was a hard-playing catcher who was a good bunter and line drive hitter.cite web
url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Stearns_John.stm
title=John Stearns
accessdate=2006-07-04
date=2006-01-11
last=Turetzky
first=Ken
publisher=BaseballLibrary.com] He also had uncanny speed for a backstop. In 1978, he led the Mets in stolen bases with 25, and in the process broke the National League record for catchers, which had been held by Johnny Kling since by|1902.cite journal|last=Kaplan|first=Jim|date=September 25, 1978|accessdate=2008-07-13|journal=Sports Illustrated|url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1094103/index.htm|title=A Hard Catcher To Nab] (Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jason Kendall has since set a new National League record for catchers) For his career, Stearns had nearly twice as many stolen bases as home runs. With his decent speed, he sometimes batted second, but most often batted fifth or sixth. For his career, he logged a .260 batting average with 46 home runs, 312 RBI and 91 stolen bases in 2,681 at bats and 810 games played.

Early life and career

John Stearns was born in Denver, Colorado. At age 17, he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 13th round of the by|1969 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to attend the University of Colorado instead. His older brother, Bill, was a late-round draft pick in by|1971 and played in the New York Yankees organization, also as a catcher, but never reached the majors. John became a two-sport star at Colorado and was drafted by the NFL Buffalo Bills as a defensive back.cite web
url=http://www.senatorsbaseball.com/releases/011106FieldStaff.html
title=All-Star Selected to Lead Senators
accessdate=2006-07-04
publisher=Harrisburg Senators] When the Philadelphia Phillies made him the second overall pick in the by|1973 draft, he chose baseball. Stearns was drafted before two eventual Hall of Famers, Robin Yount and Dave Winfield, but all three were drafted after pitcher David Clyde, who was out of the majors for good at age 24, with arm problems.

Stearns's professional career started with the AA minor league Reading Phillies in 1973, but did not start particularly well. After batting just .241 at AA, he was sent to the high-A Carolina League's Rocky Mount Phillies for by|1974 and improved drastically. Mid-season, he was promoted directly to the AAA Toledo Mud Hens. Although his hitting statistics were not fantastic at Toledo, he was brought up to the majors in September. On September 22, 1974, Stearns played his first game and picked up his first hit, going 1-for-2 off the bench.

Early trade and winning a starting job

Stearns's first game with the major league Phillies turned out to be his last with the Phillies. With budding prospect Bob Boone firmly entrenched behind the plate for Philadelphia, Stearns became expendable. On December 3, 1974, the Phillies struck a trade with the New York Mets to acquire ace relief pitcher and New York fan favorite, Tug McGraw. In return for McGraw, outfielders Don Hahn and Dave Schneck, the Mets received Stearns, outfielder Del Unser, and relief pitcher Mac Scarce. With McGraw, the Phillies had two 101-win seasons and their first World Championship, while the Mets had two mediocre seasons and then descended to the bottom of the National League for seven years.

In his first season as a Met, Stearns spent by|1975 as the backup catcher behind veteran Jerry Grote. Grote had been the Mets' regular catcher since by|1966, including every inning of every postseason game for both the 1969 World Series champions and the 1973 NLCS champions. As Grote's backup, Stearns batted only .189 in 1975.

In by|1976, Stearns hit poorly in limited time and was soon replaced in backup duties by lefty hitter Ron Hodges. Stearns was sent back to the Tidewater Tides and hit very well while Hodges struggled in the majors. He was brought back to the majors for September and continued his hot hitting. With 18 hits in his first 13 games back, including seven hits in two games, Stearns not only ousted Hodges, but even took over the starting duties from Grote for most of the rest of the season.

All-Star career

After his torrid finish to 1976, Stearns was the starting catcher for most of by|1977, with Grote and Hodges relegated to backup and pinch-hitting duty. Stearns made his Mets debut wearing number 16. For the start of the by|1977 season, he and Mets center fielder Lee Mazzilli traded uniform numbers, and Stearns began wearing number 12.

In June, he posted two four-RBI games, including the only grand slam of his career. On July 1, his average stood at .314, with a slugging average of .554. With his good mid-season statistics and the Mets near the bottom of the National League, Stearns was chosen as the team's sole representative to the All-Star Game, catching the bottom of the ninth inning. His second half was terrible, with a .125 average in August and .167 average in September. Although his final statistics were mostly at or below the league average, they looked very good compared to the rest of the team which lost 98 games and had the worst offense in the majors in 1977. His 25 doubles were tops on the team and 12 home runs tied for the team lead.

Despite a poor average and only two RBI in April, Stearns set career highs in home runs, RBI, runs and total bases in by|1978. In addition, his 25 stolen bases were not only a career high, but also broke the National League record for catchers. The Mets were again near the bottom of the National League, but with his slow start, Stearns was bypassed for the All-Star team, with Pat Zachry representing the Mets instead. The Mets finished with a National League-worst 96 losses.

In by|1979, Stearns set career highs in games played, but at age 27, it was his last season with 100 or more games. He also set personal highs in at-bats, hits and doubles. Although he struggled to get above .200, a good June resulted in selection to his second All-Star Game (although he did not play). Between 1967 and 1993, no season was worse for the Mets than 1979. Well out of contention in the second half, they experimented by playing Stearns at both first base and third base, as well as in the outfield, but he finished out the season back behind the plate.

by|1980 brought a new approach for Stearns, as he completely stopped hitting for power – in fact, he went the entire season without a home run – but his batting average started to rise. Instead of struggling to stay around .250, his average was mostly between .300 and .320 from early May through the end of June. He was also on pace to hit over 40 doubles, which would have easily been his career high. Stearns was selected to his third All-Star Game and even logged his first All-Star Game at bat, grounding out in the fifth inning. A three-hit, three-RBI game highlighted his July, but just a week later, on July 26, a broken finger on a foul tip ended his season. It was the first of several injuries that would plague the rest of his career.

Stearns started by|1981 the same way he ended 1980: on the disabled list. After missing the first two weeks, he was eased back with pinch-hitting duty and play at first and third base. He finally started catching regularly again in late May and was hitting fairly well, when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike cancelled two months of the season starting in mid-June. Play resumed in mid-August and Stearns finished with a respectable .271 average, but his run production dropped quite a bit from 1980 and he had only 14 extra base hits all season.

by|1982 appeared to be a return to Stearns's 1980 approach, as his average was again at or above .300 for much of the first half. He was again on pace for around 40 doubles and was even on pace for nearly 30 stolen bases. At age 30, Stearns was picked for his fourth All-Star Game. He continued hitting well after the break, but after a month, began suffering the effects of elbow tendinitis. He went on the disabled list in mid-August and only made three pinch running appearances the rest of the season. In May of '82, he homered off Greg Minton to break up Minton's streak of 254 1/3 innings without allowing a home run. This still stands as the longest streak in the live-ball era, if not ever.

Football attitude

Stearns was a Mets fan favorite for his hard physical play. On April 8, by|1978, he triggered a bench-clearing brawl by hitting Montreal Expos catcher, Gary Carter, at the plate.Fact|date=July 2008 On June 12, by|1980, two inebriated spectators jumped on to the playing field. While police were unable to catch them, Stearns grew frustrated and ran from behind the plate into left field, tackling and subduing one of them.Fact|date=July 2008

On June 30, by|1978, Stearns defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by tagging out Dave Parker to end the game. Parker, who had run over two other catchers in the the previous two weeks, suffered a broken cheekbone in the collision with Stearns. When the Pirates rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies next came to New York, they thanked Stearns for standing up to Parker.cite web|url=http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050629&content_id=1108847&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym|title=Notes: GM dismisses Cameron rumors|publisher=MLB.com|accessdate=2008-07-13]

During the first-ever fireworks night hosted at Shea Stadium on July 4, by|1980, Montreal Expos Rookie Bill Gullickson sailed a pitch over Mets first baseman Mike Jorgensen's head in the second game of a double header. Jorgensen didn't appreciate this as he had been the victim of one of the worst beanball injuries in baseball history the previous season with the Texas Rangers, and motioned toward Gullickson his disapproval. Stearns, who wasn't even in the line-up for this game, charged out of the dugout and welcomed Gullickson to the majors by slamming him to the ground.Fact|date=July 2008

In the most bizarre scene, Stearns once became irritated at the Atlanta Braves mascot, Chief Noc-A-Homa, and chased him off the field before the game.cite web
url=http://espn.go.com/page2/s/malone/010711.html
title=Wishing Upon a Star
last=Malone
first=Michael
accessdate=2006-07-08
publisher=ESPN] Statistically, Stearns's hard-playing was evidenced by him twice being in the league top five in hit by pitches, but also evidenced by numerous trips to the disabled list and him playing more than 100 games in only three seasons.

The elbow injury that ended Stearns's 1982 season ultimately ended his career. In by|1983, he was unable to start the season and was put on the disabled list in mid-April.cite web
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E1DB1638F935A25757C0A965948260
title=Transactions
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=1983-04-16
publisher=The New York Times] Unable to throw, he played in only four games, all as a pinch-runner. In by|1984, he spent some time with AAA Tidewater and logged only one big league game in the first five months. He was finally well enough to play in September, but only played sporadically. After the season, Stearns became a free agent and attempted a comeback with the Winter League's Ponce Lions, until re-injuring his elbow.cite web
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DB1E39F937A25752C1A962948260
title=Stearns Reinjures Elbow
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=1984-11-14
publisher=The New York Times] Another comeback with the Cincinnati Reds' AAA Denver Zephyrs in by|1985 was going well, until he was hit by a pitch in mid-May.cite web
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E1DC1439F930A35755C0A963948260
title=Sports World Specials; Catching Up
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=1985-06-03
publisher=The New York Times] Unable to return to the majors, John Stearns retired.

Post-retirement

Career-ending injuries did not keep Stearns away from baseball for long. In late by|1986, he was hired as a scout and minor league instructor by the Milwaukee Brewers.cite web
url=http://www.norfolktides.com/news/?id=4307
title=Norfolk Tides Manager, John Stearns
accessdate=2006-07-04
publisher=Norfolk Tides] cite web
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE6D81038F936A25752C1A960948260
title=Brewers Hire Stearns
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=1986-11-15
publisher=The New York Times] In by|1989, he was the New York Yankees' bullpen coach.cite web
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE1DE173CF935A15751C0A96F948260
title=Sports People; Wrong Number
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=1989-02-26
publisher=The New York Times] He was then hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as the manager of the AA-level Knoxville Blue Jays for by|1990 and by|1991, reaching the postseason in the latter season.

Stearns spent by|1992 as a Cincinnati Reds scout, and by|1993 as an ESPN broadcaster. He returned to the Reds as the manager of their Rookie-level team, the Princeton Reds in by|1994. The team won the Appalachian League championship and Stearns was named Manager of the Year. Afterwards, Stearns managed the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League and won his second minor league championship of the year. Stearns then spent by|1996 to by|1998 as a scout and first base coach in the Baltimore Orioles organization.cite web
url=http://www.easternleague.com/release.taf?release=183
title=John Stearns To Manage B-Mets in 2003
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=2002-12-03
publisher=Eastern League]

In by|1999, Stearns returned to the New York Mets as an advance scout. He was then made the Mets' bench coach in 2000. He was dismissed after the season, but re-hired as the third base coach.cite web
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02EED91439F934A25751C1A9669C8B63
title=Stearns to Return As a Mets Coach
accessdate=2006-07-06
date=2000-12-17
publisher=The New York Times] Younger fans witnessed Stearns's enthusiasm and excitability while he was a Mets coach in by|2000. He was wearing a microphone for Fox television when the Mets' Mike Piazza hit a run-scoring double in Game 1 of the 2000 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Stearns's audible reaction of "THE MONSTER IS OUT OF THE CAGE!!" [cite news|url=http://www.cincypost.com/sports/2000/nlcs101200.html|title=Piazza powers Mets|author=Tracy Ringolsby|last=Ringolsby|first=Tracy|accessdate=2007-06-16|date=2000-10-12|work=The Cincinnati Post|publisher=E. W. Scripps Company|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040929143345/http://www.cincypost.com/sports/2000/nlcs101200.html|archivedate=2004-09-29] became a rallying cry for the entire series, which the Mets won four games to one.

After two years coaching the major league Mets, Stearns was let go, but hired as a scout for by|2002. In by|2003, he returned to the dugout as Manager of the Binghamton Mets. Despite a poor record with AA Binghamton, he was made the manager of the AAA Norfolk Tides for by|2004. Stearns spent by|2005 as a roving catching instructor for the Mets.cite web
url=http://www.sportsmediainc.net/wvspn/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=14461
title=Princeton Rays December Newsletter
accessdate=2006-07-04
date=2005-12-20
publisher=West Virginia Sports on the Net]

Stearns cut ties with the Mets, and on January 11, 2006, was named the manager of the AA Harrisburg Senators in the Washington Nationals system. He is currently the manager of the Nationals' AA farm team, the Harrisburg Senators.cite web
url=http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061212&content_id=1759967&vkey=pr_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was
title=Washington Nationals Press Release
accessdate=2006-12-31
date=2006-12-12
publisher=Washington Nationals]

John Stearns and his wife, Marti, have three grown sons, Michael, Maden and Justin.

References

External links

* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Psteaj001.htm John Stearns] at Retrosheet
*baseball-reference|id=s/stearjo01|name=John Stearns
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/John-Stearns.shtml John Stearns] at The Baseball Cube
* [http://nysportsdog.blogspot.com/2008/04/old-time-mets-john-stearns.html John Stearns] at NY Sports Dog