Cleo James facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cleo James |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| Outfielder | |||
| Born: August 31, 1940 Clarksdale, Mississippi, U.S. |
|||
|
|||
| debut | |||
| April 15, 1968, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| September 26, 1973, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .228 | ||
| Home runs | 5 | ||
| Runs batted in | 27 | ||
| Teams | |||
|
|||
Cleo Joel James was born on August 31, 1940. He is an American former professional baseball player. Cleo played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968. Later, he joined the Chicago Cubs from 1970 to 1973.
Contents
Cleo James's Baseball Journey
Starting His Career
Cleo James was a talented athlete. He was a star in both baseball and football. He played at Riverside Junior College in California. This school is now called Riverside City College. After college, Cleo decided to focus on professional baseball.
He first played briefly with the Dodgers in 1968. Then, he went back to the minor leagues. In 1969, he became an All-Star. This was for the Pacific Coast League. He also finished third in batting average that year.
Joining the Major Leagues
In December 1969, the Chicago Cubs picked Cleo. They got him through something called the Rule 5 draft. This special draft lets major league teams choose players. These players come from other teams' minor league systems.
Playing for the Cubs
During the 1970 Chicago Cubs season, Cleo James was a rookie. He played in 100 games that year. Early in the season, he often came into games late. He would play center field to help with defense. This is called a "defensive replacement."
By June, Cleo became the Cubs' main center fielder. But he lost this spot in July. This happened when the team got another player, Joe Pepitone. On September 3, Cleo started a game in left field. He took the place of Billy Williams. This ended Williams' amazing streak. Billy had played 1,117 games in a row. This was a record for the National League at the time.
