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Monday, April 22, 2019

John Gross saw 5 pro seasons, high-A: Baseball Profiles

John Gross 1990 Appleton Foxes card
Joh    n Gross pitched near-flawless baseball this night in July 1989, but the win eluded him, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Gross threw eight innings of one-hit ball for single-A Baseball City before turning the game over to a reliever. The reliever couldn't record an out and Baseball City lost 2-1, The Sun-Sentinel wrote.

Gross threw those eight innings in his first season as a pro. He went on to see four more seasons, but a spot at AA or higher also ultimately eluded him. He played three seasons at high-A, but didn't play higher.

Gross' career began that year in 1989, taken by the Royals the previous year in the 43rd round of the draft out of Clovis High School in California.

Gross played his first season between Baseball City and the rookie Gulf Coast League. He went 4-5 on the year, with a 3.22 ERA.

He played 1990 at single-A Appleton. There, he started 13 games and went 3-4. He ended with a 3.36 ERA. That July, he encountered some bad luck as a disputed hit-by-pitch was quickly followed by a home run in a loss.

Gross returned to Baseball City, then high-A, in 1991. He started 16 games there that year and 26 there the next. He went 9-6 in 1992, with a 2.85 ERA.

Gross played his final season in 1993 at high-A Wilmington. He started Wilmington's Openng Day game and saw 28 starts on the year. He ended with a 11-10 record and a 3.60 ERA. The Wilmington News-Journal the next April noted Gross' retirement.
1990 Minor League Tally
Players/Coaches Featured:3,107
Made the Majors:1,136-36.6%
Never Made Majors:1,971-63.4%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 471
10+ Seasons in the Minors:281

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