John Ellis (baseball)

John Charles Ellis (born August 21, 1948) is a former professional baseball player who played first base and catcher in the Major Leagues from 1969 to 1981. He played for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Texas Rangers.

John Ellis
Ellis in 1970
First baseman / Catcher
Born: (1948-08-21) August 21, 1948
New London, Connecticut
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 17, 1969, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 1981, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
Batting average.262
Home runs69
Runs batted in391
Teams

He was a standout football and baseball player at New London High School. He later attended Mitchell College for a brief time. After hitting .333 at Triple A, the Yankees called him up in 1969.

In 1971 he was named a Topps All-Star Rookie. Ellis, along with Charlie Spikes, Rusty Torres and Jerry Kenney, was traded from the Yankees to the Indians for Graig Nettles and Jerry Moses at the Winter Meetings on November 27, 1972.[1] He became the first DH in Cleveland Indians history in 1973. Ellis had his best season in 1974, when he hit .285 (22nd in the AL), had a slugging percentage of .421 (23rd in the AL), 23 doubles (25th in AL), and 64 RBIs in only 128 games. That year, Ellis caught Dick Bosman's no-hitter on July 19.[2] While with the Indians, he was given the nickname "Moose" by Red Sox announcer Ken Coleman.

In the mid-1970s, Ellis joined the Spalding Sporting Goods Advisory Staff and had a signature catcher's mitt sold in retail stores. In 1987 he founded the Connecticut Sports Foundation Against Cancer.[3] The Foundation has an annual dinner at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT each year. Recent attendees have included Roger Clemens and Don Mattingly.

His son, John J. Ellis,[4] was a baseball standout and played at the University of Maine - Orono and in the Texas Rangers system for three seasons. His son also competed for the Eastern Tides of the New England Collegiate Baseball League in 1994.

References
  1. Durso, Joseph. "Mets Send Agee to the Astros for Pair; Yanks Trade Four to Get Graig Nettles," The New York Times, Tuesday, November 28, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2020
  2. "Retrosheet Boxscore: Cleveland Indians 4, Oakland Athletics 0".
  3. "Connecticut Cancer Foundation | Helping Cancer Patients".
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2008-07-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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