Gerald Young stole bases early, saw eight majors seasons
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The Astros and Cardinals met for a May 1988 clash in St. Louis and the topic proved to be speed, specifically early season National League-leading base stealer and young Houston Astro Gerald Young, The Houston Post wrote.
As Young went up against perennial NL stolen base king Vince Coleman, Houston manager Hal Lanier tried to keep Young focused, according to The Post.
"What Gerald needs to do is to try and learn something every day so he can continue to improve," Lanier told The Post.
Young ended up swiping 65 bases for the Astros that year. That season, though, his second in the majors, also proved his best. He went on to see eight major league campaigns. He stole 155 bases in all.
Young's career began in 1982, taken by the Mets in the fifth round of the draft out of Santa Ana Valley High School in California.
Young started with the Mets at rookie Kingsport. He hit .178 in 59 games. He then played 1983 in the rookie Gulf Coast League and 1984 at single-A Columbia. He hit .212 in 124 games at Columbia and stole 43 bases.
Young them moved to the Astros in a trade. He played at single-A Osceola in 1985, AA Columbus in 1986 and then made AAA Tucson and debuted in Houston in 1987. He stole 54 bases at Columbus in 1986.
With the Astros in 1987, Young saw 71 games and hit .321. He stole 26. He then had his 1988 campaign where he hit .257 on the year. He got those 65 stolen bases, but was also caught stealing 27 times.
Young followed up his 1988 campaign by hitting .233 in 146 games. He stole 34. Early in 1990, hitting just .179, he got sent down to Tucson. He saw 57 total games with the Astros that year.
He made a return to the majors in May 1991 and talked about changes made to The Post.
"The Gerald Young who went to Tucson last year was real frustrated and sore about being sent down," Young told The Post. "The Gerald Young that's here today has more maturity and is more able to roll with the punches."
Young saw 108 games that year and hit .218. He saw 74 in 1992, then moved to the Rockies for 1993. He hoped the move would give him a fresh start, according to The Tucson Citizen.
"He has never gone anywhere," Young told The Citizen that spring, speaking of himself. "He just stopped getting the opportunity. It's kind of hard to make the team from the bench or do anything from the bench. That was the situation I was in the last few years."
Young's time with the Rockies, however, proved brief. He got into 19 games that year and hit .053. He then saw 16 final major league games in 1994 with the Cardinals.
Young then turned to independent ball. He signed on with independent Sioux City for 1995 and stayed there three seasons. He played 1998 with Atlantic City and 1999 with Lehigh Valley. He played his final games in 2000 back with Atlantic City to end his career.
- Houston Post, May 20, 1988: Speed in spotlight as Astros visit Cards
- Houston Post, May 12, 1991: Young 'rolls with punches'
- Tucson Citizen, March 16, 1993: Ex-Astro gets his chance
Made the Majors:1,441-31.6%-X
Never Made Majors:3,118-68.4%
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