Bryan House

Bryan Elliott House

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.
• School Illinois State University
• High School Lockport Township High School

• Born January 5, 1963

Minors BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Bryan House peaked at AAA. In seven minor league seasons, he stole over 250 bases and made three postseason All-Star teams.

House was the All-Missouri Valley Conference second baseman in 1984. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the ninth round of the 1984 amateur draft and made his pro debut that summer with the Pikeville Cubs, hitting .270/.378/.411 with 19 steals in 27 tries and 41 runs in 68 games. He tied for 6th in the Appalachian League in hits (65), tied Sherwin Cijntje for 7th in steals and led the league's second basemen in putouts (159) and assists (171). He was named the league's All-Star second sacker.

With the 1985 Peoria Chiefs, Bryan batted .260/.368/.392. He was among the Midwest League leaders in triples (8, tied for first), runs (80, 10th), RBI (76, tied for 6th with Butch Garcia and Miguel Roman), steals (45, 5th), caught stealing (16, tied for fifth with Pete Coachman) and walks (78, 5th). He was named the All-Star 2B. Baseball America rated him as the league's #10 prospect, tied with Jackie Davidson and teammate Rafael Palmeiro.

House kept up his game in 1986 with the Winston-Salem Spirits. His batting line read .280/.394/.401, he stole 65 bases in 85 tries, drew 87 walks and scored 103 runs. He was 5th in the Carolina League in runs (behind future major leaguers Marcus Lawton, Pete Stanicek, Ron Gant and Doug Dascenzo), tied Dascenzo and Page Odle for 6th in doubles (29), was second in steals (12 behind Stanicek), ranked 6th in walks and missed the top 10 in OBP by .001 behind Dascenzo. Among Cubs farmhands, he was second to Dascenzo in runs, second to Chico Walker in steals and second to Phil Stephenson in walks. He failed to make his league's All-Star team for the first time as Stanicek was picked at second base.

Bryan moved up to the Pittsfield Cubs in '87 and hit .269/.342/.387 with 29 doubles, 66 runs, only 45 walks and 33 steals but 18 times caught in a decline year. He was 7th in the Eastern League in steals but tied for first in times gunned down (with Dwight Smith). He also tied Dimas Gutierrez and Mark Grace for 7th in the league in doubles and led with 13 times hit-by-pitch.

The Illinois State alumnus repeated with Pittsfield in 1988 and fared better. He batted .316/.398/.437 with 61 runs and 34 steals in 44 tries. He finished second to teammate Jerome Walton in average, was third in OBP (behind teammates Hector Villanueva and Walton), tied Dave Brundage for 10th in runs, was 6th with 136 hits, placed 6th in stolen bases and was 10th in walks (58). Among Cubs farmhands, just Walton had a better average. He saw more action in the outfield than at 2B that season. He made the EL All-Star team as a utility man, with Andy Stankiewicz picked at second base and Walton, Oscar Azocar and Rob Richie making it in the outfield. In winter ball, he hit .266/?/.345 with 13 steals and 30 runs in 56 games for the Aguilas del Zulia, then improved to .324 for the postseason. He tied Alexis Infante and Gary Thurman for second in the Venezuelan League in stolen bases, 5 behind leader Jose Leiva.

House hit .250/.319/.362 with 37 steals in 54 tries and 7 triples for the 1989 Iowa Cubs. He tied Kevin Reimer, Kevin Dean and Tom Dodd for 5th in the 1989 American Association in three-baggers, was second to Alex Cole in stolen bases and tied Jeff Huson for fourth in times caught stealing. In the Cubs chain, he was third in both triples and steals. Prior to the 1990 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Rey Sanchez. In his final year, he batted .277/.329/.359 for the Oklahoma City 89ers, with 8 triples, 79 runs and 30 stolen bases (caught 13 times). He led 1990 American Association second basemen in assists (353) and errors (18), tied Nick Capra, Bernard Gilkey and Jeff Small for 7th in doubles (26), was 5th in runs (behind Joe Redfield, Skeeter Barnes, Gilkey and Capra), tied for fourth in triples (trailing Steve Carter, Redfield and Russ Morman) and tied Ray Lankford for 8th in steals. Among Rangers farmhands, he was third in steals (behind Nick Lowery and Capra), was second in runs (one behind Capra) and tied Doug Cronk for second in triples (one shy of Monty Fariss).

Overall, House had batted .274/.360/.390 in 1,152 minor league games, with 263 steals in 365 tries, 389 walks, 494 runs and 363 RBI. He had fielded .962 at 2B (559 G), .971 in the OF (185 G) and .900 at 3B (94 G).

Sources

• Greatest 21 Days blog
• Purapelota
• 1985, 1989 and 1991 Baseball Guides
• 1986-1987 Baseball America Statistics Reports
• 1988-1990 Baseball Almanacs