Blake Mayo

Dustin Blake Mayo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.

• School Birmingham Theological Seminary, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Mississippi State University,

• Born December 18, 1972 in Gadsden, AL USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Blake Mayo reached AAA despite not being picked until the 53th round of the 1996 amateur draft.

Despite being the 1,510th pick of the 1996 draft, Mayo went right after one major leaguer (Greg Dobbs) and two spots before another, Marcus Giles. He made his pro debut with the Yakima Bears, going 5-2 with a save and a 1.20 ERA, with 68 K in 67 1/3 IP and a WHIP of .83. He then tossed four shutout innings in the playoffs in relief of Kevin Culmo (who he was teamed with that year in a piggyback pitching system) over the Eugene Emeralds as Yakima won the title, rallying from a 17-30 start. Mayo easily led the Northwest League in ERA, 1.07 over Culmo. He tied for 7th in the NWL in wins. He did not make the All-Star team as Brandon Leese was picked as the top right-handed starter and Mick Pageler as the top right-handed reliever (Mayo started 6 games and relieved in 14). He did not make the Baseball America list of the league's top 10 prospects.

In 1997, he fell to 1-1, 5.16 for the San Bernardino Stampede. He split 1998 between the Vero Beach Dodgers (4-7, 5 Sv, 2.94) and San Antonio Missions (2-1, Sv, 1.47). He was 9th in the Dodgers chain with 45 games pitched. He was 3-4 with 3 saves and a 3.98 ERA for the Adelaide Bite in the 1998-1999 Australian Baseball League. He was 5th in the ABL with 19 games pitched, 4th in K/IP ratio, 5th in K:BB ratio and second in lowest opponent average (.210, .029 behind Pat Ahearne).

During 1999, he pitched for San Antonio (2-2, 3 Sv, 5.82) and was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks as the player to be named later in a deal for Neil Weber. He was assigned to the El Paso Diablos (1-1, Sv, 5.40), giving up 104 hits in 76 innings with a WHIP of 1.80 in 56 games that summer. With the 2000 Diablos, he fared better at 8-3, 4.09. His 120 strikeouts were third-most in the Dbacks chain, behind Chris Cervantes and Duaner Sanchez, and he tied for 7th in wins. He was 8th in the Texas League in strikeouts as well.

Mayo missed all of 2001 with injury, though. On his return, he struggled with the Lancaster JetHawks (0-1, 4.50 in 2 G), El Paso (0-1, 5.96 in 11 G) and the Tucson Sidewinders (1-4, 6.89 in 8 G) to end his pro career at 24-23, 3.99 with 11 saves in 200 games (42 starts).

After baseball, Mayo became a Baptist minister.

Sources

• 1997 Baseball Almanac
• Article on Mayo's work in the ministry