Dwight Maness

Dwight Orlando Maness

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 188 lb.
• High School William Penn High School
• Born April 3, 1974 in Chester, PA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Dwight Maness spent 16 years in professional baseball, playing from 1992 to 2007. He played nearly a decade in the affiliated ranks, then became an Atlantic League regular, spending about 7.5 seasons in that independent circuit—including seven straight years with the Camden Riversharks (2001-2007).

He was originally taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 3rd round of the 1992 amateur draft, between infielder Gabe Alvarez and pitcher Chris Eddy. Not a high-average hitter—his career best mark was .297 with Camden in 2002—he did possess solid speed, swiping 20-plus bags twelve times and 30-plus bags four times. His career high was 36 between two clubs in 1994 and he had less than 10 steals only once. Later in his career, he developed a power stroke, reaching double digit dingers for the first time in 1998, while in the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets systems. From then on, he was a solid power-speed threat, clobbering 20-plus dingers twice (both years were 20-20 seasons) and 15-plus homers four times. Perhaps his best campaign overall was 2005, when he hit .267/.349/.468 with 21 homers, 88 RBI, 33 steals, 29 doubles and 92 runs scored in 127 games for Camden.

Despite playing so long, he was rarely a league leader, though he did finish second in multiple categories. In 1992, he was second in the Gulf Coast League in times caught stealing (9, tied with Myles Barnden, behind Eric Walls' 11) and in 1993, he was second in the Florida State League in HBPs (15, behind Rickey Holifield's 16). He was second in the Texas League in caught stealing in 1995 (16, behind Buck McNabb's 17). His name appeared on the leaderboards more upon joining the Atlantic League. He had the second-most doubles in 2002 (31, tied with Jimmy Hurst and Jose Velazquez, behind Keith Gordon's 35) and in 2003, he led the league in triples (8, tied with Dave Francia) and extra base hits (52). He was also second in steals (34, behind Elvis Peña's 45). He had the second-most strikeouts in 2004 (126, behind Brady Williams' 146), 2005 (139, behind Jeremy Owens' 157) and 2006 (130, behind Jason Bryan's 133).

He was involved in one notable trade, being shipped from the Dodgers to the Mets on August 18, 1995 with fellow minor leaguer Scott Hunter for outfielder Brett Butler. He'd one been considered a Dodgers top prospect, with Baseball America ranking him at #9 in the system going into 1994.

Overall, Maness hit .255/.335/.415 with 187 homers, 860 RBI, 385 stolen bases bases, 1,623 hits and 1,022 runs scored in 1,786 games. In the affiliated ranks, he hit .239/.322/.368 with 67 homers, 355 RBI and 173 steals and in indy ball, he hit .271/.348/.459 with 120 homers, 505 RBI and 212 steals.