John Stearns

Quick Facts

Full Name	John Stearns
Occupation	Baseball Player
Date Of Birth	Aug 21, 1951(1951-08-21)
Age	73
Country	United States
Birth City	Denver
Horoscope	Leo

John Stearns Biography

John Stearns is one of the most popular and richest Baseball Player who was born on August 21, 1951 in Denver, United States. John Hardin Stearns (born August 21st 1951) who was nicknamed “Bad Dude”, is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player who was a catcher with the New York Mets from 1975 until 1984 following only one game for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974. Stearns had a dual sport athlete in his time at college. He made the move to professional baseball after being selected both in the MLB and National Football League drafts. The injury-prone player struggled in the latter part in his playing career. He was the catcher director of Seattle Mariners Seattle Mariners and the interim manager of the minor league Tacoma Rainiers before being named third base coach under Lloyd McClendon for the 2014 season. Then, Stearns underwent surgery for hiatal hernia before spring training. The slower recovery forced him to quit on the 7th of March of 2014. Stearns remained with the Mariners team, however as a scout during this season. After attending a funeral for his high school’s basketball coach back in 2015 mentioned that it was unclear if the team would handle baseball in the future.

With McGraw as their manager, the Phillies enjoyed two seasons of 101 wins and won their inaugural World Series championship. The Mets however, experienced two disappointing seasons and fell to the lowest levels in the National League for seven years. In his debut season being the Met, Stearns spent 1975 as the backup catcher for the veteran Jerry Grote. Grote was the Mets regular catcher since June of 1966 which included every inning of each postseason game played by both their 1989 World Series champions and the 1973 NLCS champions. In Grote’s place, Stearns hit just .189 in 1975.

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 Steve Henderson and John Milner for the team lead. Still, the most indelible image of Stearns for the season had to be when he became irritated at the Atlanta Braves mascot, Chief Noc-A-Homa, and chased him off the field before the game.

Stearns made his Mets debut wearing number 16. For the start of the 1977 season, he and Mets center fielder Lee Mazzilli traded uniform numbers, and Stearns began wearing number 12. After his torrid finish to 1976, Stearns was the starting catcher for most of 1977, with Grote and Hodges relegated to backup and pinch-hitting duty. On August 31, 1977, the Mets traded Grote to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two players to be named later.

Stearns’s professional life began in the Philadelphia’s Eastern League affiliate, the Reading Phillies in 1973, but he didn’t start off well. After averaging only .241 when he played double-A baseball, he was moved to Carolina League’s high-A Rocky Mount Phillies for 1974 and saw a dramatic improvement. At the end of the season after the season, he was promoted up to AAA Toledo Mud Hens. While his statistics on hitting weren’t great at Toledo but he was recalled for a call-up to the Phillies that month of September. On the 22nd of September the 22nd of September 1974 Stearns first made it to the majors and scored his first hit with a single from the sidelines.

John Stearns Net Worth

John Stearns is one of the richest Baseball Player from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, John Stearns 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

John Stearns was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 13th round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft at 17 years old. However, He chose to go to his first choice of the University of Colorado at Boulder instead. His sibling, Bill, was a late round draft pick in 1971. He was a player within the New York Yankees organization, and also as a catcher however, he was never drafted into the level of major leagues.

Stearns’s first appearance with the Phillies was his final. With the promising potential Bob Boone firmly entrenched behind the plate for Philadelphia, Stearns became expendable. The Phillies made an offseason deal together with their counterparts the New York Mets to acquire an outstanding reliever and New York fan favorite, Tug McGraw on the 3rd of December 1974. In exchange for McGraw along with the outfielders Don Hahn and Dave Schneck the Mets received Stearns and the outfielder Del Unser, and relief pitcher Mac Scarce.

In 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.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

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Who is John Stearns Dating?

According to our records, John Stearns is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, John Stearns’s is not dating anyone.

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The injury that ended his 1980 season was the first of several injuries that would plague the rest of his career. Stearns started 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 canceled 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.

Facts & Trivia

John Ranked on the list of most popular Baseball Player. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. John Stearns celebrates birthday on August 21 of every year.

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.

Top Facts about John Stearns

1. John Stearns was a professional baseball player from 1974-1984.
2. He played for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies.
3. Stearns was a four-time All-Star selection.
4. He won two Gold Glove Awards as a catcher.
5. In 1977, he set a record for most stolen bases by a catcher in one season (25).
6. Stearns had a career batting average of .260 with 46 home runs.
7. He was known for his aggressive style of play and toughness on the field.
8. After retiring, he became a coach and manager in minor league baseball.
9. Stearns passed away on January 6, 2022 at the age of 70.
10. He will be remembered as one of the best catchers of his era.