Jeff Byrd

Jeffrey Alan Byrd

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.
• High School El Capitan High School
• Debut June 20, 1977
• Final Game September 27, 1977
• Born November 11, 1956 in La Mesa, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Jeff Byrd, in his age 20 season, started 17 games for the expansion Toronto Blue Jays, losers of 107 games in 1977. Jeff was a contributor to the losing, with a 2-13, 6.18 record and 68 walks to just 40 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings. To date, he remains the youngest starting pitcher to toe the rubber in Toronto history. He spent the next season, his last, with the Syracuse Chiefs and was released on the eve of the 1979 season.

He was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 2nd round of the 1974 amateur draft, out of a high school in California and played three seasons in their system before being drafted by the Jays. In 1974, he went 4-1, 2.87 in 9 starts for the GCL Rangers. In 1975, he was 7-11, 3.96 with the Anderson Rangers of the Western Carolinas League and in 1976 he was 7-11, 5.22 in 26 games and 143 innings for the San Antonio Brewers of the AA Texas League (the Brewers were a Rangers affiliate that year, in spite of their name). In 1977, before being promoted to Toronto in late June, he was 1-4, 3.13 in 10 games for the Jersey City Indians of the AA Eastern League. His call-up came in spite of experiencing only limited success in the minors, and skipping AAA altogether. The Blue Jays had few pitching prospects at the time, and his record in the American League was what could have been expected under the circumstances.

In 1978, he did pitch in AAA for the first time, going 0-3, 8.13 in 7 games for the Syracuse Chiefs. In 1979, now 22, he moved to the Seattle Mariners organization, pitching for the San Jose Missions of the Class A California League. He put up good numbers, going 12-6, 2.98 in 26 games. In 151 innings, he struck out 161 batters, but continued to struggle with his control, walking 117 batters. He was both old for the circuit, and much more experienced than the average player in the league, and was not given another chance to pitch professionally after that.