Walt McKeel waited for first majors hit, passed in 2019
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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 home runs, one in an early August contest at turned a 2-0 seventh-inning deficit into a 3-2 lead, The Raleigh News and Observer wrote.
"I was definitely wanting to take it to right, because he had been throwing me away all night," McKeel told The News and Observer afterward.
McKeel made AA New Britain in 1994, then played all of 1996 at AA Trenton before his call up to Boston.
He saw 66 games at AAA Pawtucket in 1997, along with five in Boston. He went 0 for 3 for the Red Sox that year.
McKeel stayed in the Red Sox system through 1998, then the Tigers and AAA Toledo in 1999. He joined the Rockies at AA Carolina in 2000. He spoke to The News and Observer that April of his goals.
"Everybody who knows me knows what kind of drive I have," McKeel told The News and Observer then. "I'm as competitive a person as you'll find. I won't give up. This is my 11th season, and, if it tkakes 11 more (to get back to the majors), that's what it will take."
McKeel returned, but not for two more seasons. In 2002, McKeel got five final gamesfive final games with the Rockies. He went 4 for 13 to end his career
McKeel passed away Jan. 1, 2019 at the age of 46.
- Boston Globe, Sept. 5, 1990: McKeel is trying to stay on an even keel
- Raleigh News and Observer, Aug. 5, 1992: McKeel plays spoiler with HR
- Raleigh News and Observer, April 17, 2000: McKeel yearns for return to majors
Made the Majors:1,482-31.7%-X
Never Made Majors:3,187-68.3%