Jay North

Jay Alan North

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.

• High School Ygnacio Valley High School

• Born June 21, 1962 in Alameda, CA USA
• Died January 20, 2009 in San Francisco, CA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Jay North pitched for nine years in the minors then became a scout. His son Matt North also played professionally.

Jay North was taken by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 8th round of the 1980 amateur draft, one pick before Cliff Pastornicky, and would spend the rest of his life working for the Cards. He was 2-6 with a 5.12 ERA for the Johnson City Cardinals that summer, tying for 4th in the Appalachian League in losses. He improved to 4-2, 4.20 the next year for the Erie Cardinals. In 1982, the right-hander went 6-14 with a 5.13 ERA for the Gastonia Cardinals with 101 walks and 19 wild pitches in 165 innings. He was among the South Atlantic League leaders in losses (3rd, one behind Larry Acker and Mark Forchee), hits allowed (174, 4th), runs allowed (108, tied for first with Ravelo Manzanillo), earned runs allowed (94, 1st), walks (only 5th despite triple digits) and wild pitches (2nd to Steve Fincher).

Back in the SAL in 1983, Jay struck out more (going from 89 to 100), walked 30 fewer and went 11-5 with a 4.50 ERA for the Macon Redbirds. He tied for 6th in the league in wins one year after nearly leading in losses. Continuing to improve, he was 7-4 with a save and a 2.33 ERA for the 1984 Springfield Cardinals, walking only 40 in 154 1/3 innings, having more than halved his walk rate in two years. He ranked 4th in the Midwest League in ERA behind Bruce Tanner, Mike Birkbeck and Craig Henderson.

North split 1985 between Springfield (11-4, Sv, 3.47) and the Arkansas Travelers (0-2, 7.59). He spent the next year with the St. Petersburg Cardinals (4-0, 1.95 in 18 G) and the Travelers (2-2, 2.89 in 23 games, his longest look at AA). In 1987, Jay went 13-9 with a 2.67 ERA for St. Petersburg. He missed the Florida State League top 10 in ERA by .03 behind Doug Little and he tied Mike Christopher, Scott Service, Troy Evers and Dan Gabriele for 6th in wins. He had an identical ERA for the same club in 1988 while his record was 8-7 with two saves.

Overall, North had gone 68-55 with four saves and a 3.57 ERA in 239 minor league games (166 starts). He allowed 1,145 hits and 471 walks in 1,180 innings while striking out 651. He fielded .933 and went 7 for 63 with two doubles, two walks, three runs, four RBI and 28 strikeouts.

North was a coach for the Savannah Cardinals in 1989 and St. Petersburg Cardinals in 1990-1991 then became a Cardinals' West Coast scout. Among his signees were Bryan Anderson, Daniel Descalso, John Gall and Clayton Mortensen.

Sources include Obituary