Saturday, November 25, 2023

Paul Carey put on hometown show in bigs, saw 18 ML games

Paul Carey 1990 Miami Miracle card

Paul Carey made the majors with the Orioles in 1993. That June, he got to play in front of his hometown in Boston, The Baltimore Sun wrote.

Carey responded by picking up three hits - one to tie the game and another to go ahead, The Sun wrote.

"It's especially nice when you give a kid a chance to play in front of his hometown people," Carey's manager Johnny Oates told The Sun of Carey. "It means something extra when you play at home."

Carey's chances to play in Boston - and his chances to play in the majors - proved brief. Her saw just 18 games that year with the Orioles, the extent of his big league career.

Carey's career began in 1990, taken in the fourth round of the draft by the independent Miami Miracle out of Stanford University.

At Stanford, Carey helped Stanford to the 1987 College World Series title as a freshman- and hit an important grand slam game-winner off of Louisiana State's Ben McDonald, The Omaha World-Herald wrote

"I got the barrel on it and got the ball up in the wind," Carey told The World-Herald afterward. I hoped it would go out. I knew I hit it well."

He then turned pro in 1990, but ran into the odd situation of being selected by an independent team in Miami, not a major league organization.

At the outset, Carey told The Miami Herald he saw it as "an opportunity to play baseball in a great league to start in."

"I never viewed it as a negative situation," Carey told The Herald late that June. "I initially was surprised, but I never looked at it as a negative situation. Fort Lauderdale isn't such a bad place to be. I could be stuck in the Midwest or someplace."

Carey saw 49 games with Miami and hit .327. He then moved to the Orioles system for 1991 and played at AA Hagerstown. He hit .252.

He made AAA Rochester for 30 games in 1992, then Baltimore for those 18 games in 1993. He picked up 10 hits in 47 at bats.

Carey played 1994 between Rochester and high-A Frederick, then 1995 completely at Rochester. He then saw 27 final games in 1996, at independent Sioux Falls to end his career.

Carey then served several years as a manager and coach in the minors. He's last recorded as serving as a hitting coach with AA Frisco in 2004.

Paul Carey 1990 Miami Miracle card

1990 Minor League Tally 
Players/Coaches Featured:4,264
Made the Majors:1,387-32.5%-X
Never Made Majors:2,877-67.5%
5+ Seasons in the Majors:563
10+ Seasons in the Minors:347

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