Walt McKeel waited for first majors hit, passed in 2019
Walt McKeel got his first call up to the majors in September 1996. But a callup directly from AA, where he'd been, hadn't even really been on the table, The Boston Globe wrote . That was until back spasms to Red Sox catcher Mike Stanley led to the need for another catcher on the big league roster, The Globe wrote . "Boggled my mind," McKeel told The Globe . "It was a total surprise when they told me. I had no idea I was going to come up." McKeel got into a single game that trip. He returned for five more in 1997. He then waited five more years for his last shot in the bigs - and his first major league hit . McKeel's career began in 1990, taken by the Red Sox in the third round of the draft out of Green Central High School in North Carolina. McKeel started with the Red Sox in the rookie Gulf Coast League . He played his first two seasons there before making high-A Lynchburg in 1992. He saw 96 games at Lynchburg in 1992 and hit .222. He also hit 12 hom...
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