The Guardians announced that former big league outfielder Alex Cole recently passed away. He was 58 years old. The club also announced the passing of Dick Tomanek, who you can read about here.
Cole was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1965. He attended the State College of Florida and was selected by the Pirates in the 11th round of the 1984 draft but didn’t sign. The next year, the Cardinals took him in the second round and he put pen to paper this time around. He climbed the minor league ladder with the Cards but was twice traded in 1990, first going to the Padres and then the Indians.
It was with that latter club that he made his major league debut, getting into 63 games in that 1990 season. He didn’t show much power, not hitting any home runs in his 256 plate appearances that year. But he produced a batting average of .300 and stole 40 bases in just 63 games.
He carved out regular playing time in the seasons to come and generally produced in a similar fashion, not providing much power but using his speed to propel himself around the basepaths. He stayed in Cleveland in 1991 before being traded to the Pirates midway through the 1992 campaign. After that season, he was selected by the Rockies in the expansion draft, becoming an inaugural member of that franchise. He would eventually reach free agency, signing with the Twins for 1994-1995 and Red Sox for 1996, which would prove to be his last season in the big leagues.
Over parts of seven seasons, Cole got into 573 major league games and made 2,012 plate appearances. He batted .280 in that time, racking up 493 hits, including 58 doubles, 26 triples and five home runs. He stole 148 bases in 207 attempts. He scored 286 runs and drove in 117.
We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.