Juan Samuel

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Juan Milton Samuel

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

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Contents

[edit] Biographical Information

Juan Samuel, who played 16 seasons in the major leagues, is currently third-base coach for the Baltimore Orioles.

Bill James once compared Samuel to actor Walter Matthau, saying that Samuel was equally hard to cast: obviously talented but not in ways that fit easily into a baseball team. He had speed, so you might want him leading off - except that he struck out a lot, didn't draw many walks, and his batting average was moderate. Or, with his power, you might want him hitting cleanup or fifth in the lineup, except that he really didn't have the kind of slugging that usually is required for those positions. The result is that Samuel was put in all sorts of spots in the lineup, never quite fitting.

Signed as a teenager out of San Pedro de Macoris by scout Francisco Acevedo, Juan Samuel tore through the Philadelphia Phillies minor-league system in the early 1980s, hitting well over .300 with power and exceptional speed at both A and AAA ball, skipping AA altogether. By late 1983 Samuel was in the NL Champions' lineup at times and made their playoff roster. By 1984 he was the leadoff man and an All-Star. There was some debate that year as to whether he or Mets' pitcher Dwight Gooden should win the Rookie of the Year Award. One rival manager quipped: "I don't know, they're pretty close in strikeouts, aren't they ?" In the end, Gooden won the award, but Samuel was perceived as a budding superstar.

Samuel's blend of power and speed offset his egregious strikeout rate and his shortcomings as a second baseman. He became a centerfielder in 1989 to take advantage of that speed ("I am the fastest", Samuel was heard to remark), and then was traded to the Mets for their centerfielder, Lenny Dykstra. The Mets also gave up Roger McDowell in the deal, and another apparent motive for the trade was dislike among veterans for rookie Gregg Jefferies.

Samuel didn't work out at all with the Mets, who traded him to the Dodgers after the '89 season for Mike Marshall and Alejandro Pena. He then slipped into the role of utility player for several clubs in the second half of his 16-year career.

Shortly after his playing career ended, Samuel joined the Detroit Tigers coaching staff in 1999, initially as first base coach and later as third base coach. He remained in the job through four managers and the complete descent of the Tigers into baseball purgatory in 2003 and saw the club return to mediocrity in 2005. The following year, he made his managerial debut as skipper of the Binghamton Mets and after the season, he joined the Baltimore Orioles as the team's third base coach.

Like some other contemporary talents who seemed to have more athleticism than baseball smarts (Alfredo Griffin, Ozzie Guillen), Samuel seems to be forging a respectable career as a teacher of younger players, both as a coach and as a minor league manager.

Commenting on the passing of Philadelphia Phillies announcer Harry Kalas on April 13, 2009:

"I've known him for a long, long time and he was a real good friend of mine. He's one of the people that every time I went to Philadelphia, I'd look forward to seeing. Now, I'm going to miss that. And I know all the fans in Philadelphia and in Pennsylvania are going to miss that voice. It's probably not going to be the same. As recently as last year, he was the emcee when I went into the Phillies Wall of Fame. That was a real highlight for me. And last night on the flight, I was going through my camera and I saw all those moments again. It's going to stay there for a long time." -Juan Samuel , Phillies second baseman, 1983-89

"People always commented to me about how they loved to hear Harry say, 'Run Sammy, run," with that distinctive voice." - Baltimore Orioles third base coach Juan Samuel, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies.


  • Member of the Peninsula Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Member of the Virginia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame along with National Baseball Hall of Famers Gary Carter, Johnny Bench and Satchel Paige, among others.
  • Holds Peninsula single season records for runs scored (111) and total bases (283)
  • Was the 2006 recipient of the Philadelphia Phillies Latino Legend Award. He received this award on Wednesday, September 6, at Citizens Bank Park.
  • Inducted onto Phillies Wall of Fame, August 8, 2008

[edit] Trivia

  • He has four children, Francisco (born May 22, 1983),Noemy (born June 22, 1989), Samuel (born March 4, 1997) & Alexa (born August 3, 2003).
  • Signed to first contract by Francisco Acevedo, the same scout that signed Julio Franco.
  • Played winter ball in 1982 for Torices (Colombia).
  • Finished second to Tony Gwynn in multiple hits games in 1984 (70 to 60).
  • In 1984, fell one RBI short of becoming the fifth player in Major League history to have 70 stolen bases and 70 RBI's in one season.
  • Was the 34th player in history to score 100 runs in their rookie season.
  • He tied a ML record for consecutive strikeout titles with four (1984-1987), shared with Hack Wilson (1927-1930) and Vince DiMaggio (1942-1945).
  • Set Phillies Rookie record with 13 game winning RBI's in 1984.
  • The spikes worn by Juan when he set the rookie stolen base record with 72 in 1984 are displayed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
  • Entering 2007, Juan was the last Phillie to collect 15 or more doubles, triples, homers and stolen bases in a season, twice. He accomplished that feat in both 1984 and 1987. Jimmy Rollins accomplished it for the Phillies in 2007.
  • Hit a 10th inning homerun vs. San Francisco on 8/20/1986; that's the last time the Phillies won an extra-inning game 1-0 by hitting a home run.
  • Tied Major League Record for assists by a second baseman with 12 vs. New York, April 20, 1985.
  • Homered in 4 straight games in 1985 (The Phillies record is 5).
  • In 1987, set an All-Star Game Record for most putouts by a second baseman (7), breaking the mark previously set in 1933 and tied another record for most chances by a second baseman (9) set by Bill Mazeroski in 1958.
  • Had a 17-game hitting streak in 1987.
  • Juan Samuel appeared on the 1988 Steve Jeltz Donruss card #576. It is a Steve Jeltz card, front and back, yet Juan Samuel's picture appears in the photo section on front of the card.
  • In 1988, led NL Second Basemen in putouts (343) and double plays (92).
  • Played only second base in his major league career until 1988 season when he played Third Base on July 4th and went 0 - 4 vs. Atlanta Braves in Phillies 7 - 0 loss. Also played the outfield for the first time in 1988 on September 7th (rightfield) and went 1 - 4 vs. St. Louis Cardinals in a 5 - 0 Phillies Loss. Played centerfield vs. The St. Louis Cardinals On Sept. 14th (2 - 5 at the plate in a 9 -2 Phillies victory) and September 15th (0 - 4 at the plate in a 3 - 1 Phillies Loss). Overall he was 3 for 17 at the plate and the Phillies were 1 and 3 in the four games he played away from second base. This is the point his career began to decline. The following season the Phillies tried to make him an outfielder and his hitting suffered. He was sent to the New York Mets halfway through the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers put him back at second base, full-time, in 1991 and he was once again an All-Star Second Basemen.
  • Despite playing for the Phillies for only 5+ seasons, he still ranks in the Phillies Top 20 All-Time in Triples, Home Runs and Stolen Bases. This shows his impressive early career speed and power.
  • Held the Philadelphia Phillies record for home runs leading off a game with 14, until Jimmy Rollins broke it in 2006.
  • Ranks fourth on Phillies all-time games played at second base with 798.
  • Entering 2007, Juan had the most home runs by any Phillies second baseman with 90 in his Phillies career. Chase Utley passed him in 2007.
  • Received 2 votes on the MLB Hall of Fame ballot of 2004.
  • He is one of only a handful of players of his generation who retired with 100+ career doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases, joining Hall of Famers Robin Yount and George Brett. Tim Raines is one of the few others(Samuel and Raines appeared on a 1987 Fleer Baseball Card together titled, 'Doubles and Triples'; Card #642).
  • In Juan's final major league game, September 26, 1998, he pinch ran, stole third base and scored the winning run for the Toronto Blue Jays over the Detroit Tigers in the 13th inning. Blue Jays - 5, Detroit Tigers - 4.
  • September 26, 1998 was also the last game for Major Leaguers Dennis Eckersley, Jim Eisenreich and Bob Tewksbury.....among others.

[edit] Career Milestones

[edit] Notable Achievements

  • 1984 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
  • 3-time All-Star (1984, 1987 & 1991)
  • NL Silver Slugger Award (1987)
  • 3-time NL At Bats Leader (1984, 1985 & 1987)
  • 2-time NL Triples Leader (1984 & 1987)
  • 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1987)
  • 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1987)
  • 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1984, 1985 & 1987)
  • 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 2 (1984 & 1985)

[edit] Samuel Firsts

  • Game- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants
  • At Bat- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 1st inning
  • Hit- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 3rd inning
  • Single- 08/26/1983 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers P Fernando Valenzuela, 5th inning
  • Infield Single- 08/27/1983 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers P Rick Honeycutt, 8th inning
  • Double- 10/02/1983 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates P Lee Tunnell, 1st inning
  • Triple- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 3rd inning
  • Homerun- 09/04/1983 vs. San Francisco Giants P Andy McGaffigan, 4th inning
  • Grand Slam- 06/29/1986 at St. Louis Cardinals P Todd Worrell(Game Winner)(Scoring S. Jeltz, T. Foley & G. Gross), 9th inning
  • Stolen Base- 08/29/1983 vs. San Diego Padres P Tim Lollar C Gwosdz(stole second), 1st inning
  • Caught Stealing-08/31/1983 vs. San Diego Padres P Mark Thurmond, C Terry Kennedy, pickoff
  • BB(unintentional) 08/28/1983 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers P Jerry Reuss, 5th inning
  • IBB- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 6th inning
  • HBP- 09/30/1983 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates P Larry McWilliams, 5th inning
  • 2 HR Game- 06/23/1986 vs. Chicago Cubs (1)P Jamie Moyer,1st inning(2)George Frazier,5th inning
  • Strikeout- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 4th inning
  • Sac. Hit- 05/24/1985 vs. San Diego Padres P Dave Dravecky(Ivan DeJesus, John Denny advance)
  • Sac. Fly- 08/31/1983 vs. San Diego Padres P Mark Thurmond, 5th inning(DeJesus Scored)
  • Grounding into Doub. Play-08/29/1983 vs. San Diego Padres (4,6,3)Flannery, Templeton, Wiggins, 3rd inning
  • Out- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 1st inning FO(8) to Chili Davis
  • Committed Error- 08/28/1983 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers C Jack Fimple(batter), 2nd inning
  • Run Scored- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants P Mark Davis, 3rd inning
  • Fielded DP- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants (5,4,3) Schmidt,Samuel,Perez P Steve Carlton, Batter Jack Clark, 3rd inning
  • Safe on Error- 08/26/1983 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Pedro Guerrero, 2nd inning
  • Road Game- 08/24/1983 at San Francisco Giants Loss 5-3, day game
  • Home Game- 08/26/1983 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Win 4-1, night game
  • RBI- 08/31/1983 vs. San Diego Padres (sac. fly) P. Mark Thurmond, runner Ivan DeJesus, 5th inning
  • Pinch Hit- 08/09/1984 vs. St. Louis Cardinals P Dave LaPoint(PH for P Larry Andersen)(single), 8th
  • PH for- 08/29/1983 vs. San Diego Padres P Luis DeLeon (by Greg Gross) Fly Out(8), 9th inning

[edit] Records Held

  • At bats, rookie, season, 701, 1984
  • At bats, right handed batter, season, 701, 1984
  • Modern day record (post-1900) for Most triples by a rookie, 19, in 1984
  • Shares Phillies record with 7 at bats in one game, June 11, 1985
  • Teamed with Von Hayes to steal 120 combined bases in 1984, a Phillies record for 2 players (Samuel 72, Hayes 48). Jeff Stone stole 27 bases that season for a total of 147 for three players, also a Phillies Record.
  • Only Rookie to have 70 extra base hits and stolen bases in a single season, 1984

[edit] Uniform Numbers

Minor League Career

  • 1980 Bend
  • 1981 Spartanburg
  • 1982 Peninsula Pilots & Reading Phillies
  • 1983 Portland Beavers

Playing Career

  • 1983 Philadelphia Phillies #16
  • 1984-1989 Philadelphia Phillies #8
  • 1989 New York Mets #7
  • 1990-1992 Los Angeles Dodgers #10
  • 1992 Kansas City Royals #10 & #17
  • 1993 Cincinnati Reds #8
  • 1994-1995 Detroit Tigers #8 (wore #55 in Spring Training 1994)
  • 1995 Kansas City Royals #27
  • 1996-1998 Toronto Blue Jays #11

Coaching/Managing career

  • 1999-2005 Detroit Tigers 1st & 3rd base coach #10 & #8
  • 2006 Binghamton Mets Manager Eastern League AA #8
  • 2007-present Baltimore Orioles 3rd Base Coach #11

[edit] Related Sites

Retrieved from "http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Juan_Samuel"
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