John Skurla

John David Skurla

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.
• School Washington State University

• Born December 16, 1962

BR minors page

Biographical Information

John Skurla peaked at AAA.

Skurla was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 19th round of the 1984 amateur draft but broke his hand in a motorcycle accident and didn't play in the minors in 1984. Debuting in 1985 with the Clinton Giants, he hit .272/.352/.376 with 17 steals in 26 tries and 9 outfield assists to 0 errors in 73 games (he also played 49 games at first). The next season, John batted .262/.333/.424 with 21 steals (in 30 attempts), 81 runs, a whopping 21 outfield assists and 12 triples for the Fresno Giants. He was second in the California League in three-baggers, two behind pacesetter Rob Dewolf.

In 1987, John batted .276/.368/.441 in a repeat engagement for Fresno. He drove in 91, drew 66 walks, stole 15 (but was caught 13 times) and had double-digit doubles (25), triples (10) and homers (10). Despite his fine outfield defense in 1986, he was used more at 1B in 1987 than in the outfield. He was one triple behind leader Jeff Carter. Skurla moved up to the Shreveport Captains in 1988 and topped .300 for the only time in the minors - .301/.342/.446. He had 9 assists in 91 outfield games and again played 1B at times. He tied Jeff Manto and Greg Vaughn for 7th in the Texas League in batting average.

Skurla split 1989 between Shreveport (.283/.352/.475 in 81 G, 10 3B, 11 SB, 2 CS) and the Phoenix Firebirds (only .206/.250/.324 in his first 30 AAA games). For the third time in his career, he was second in his league in triples, two behind TL leader Ray Lankford. He opened 1990 with Phoenix but was released after an 0-for-4 start. Signing with the California Angels, he spent the remainder of the year with the Midland Angels (.268/.316/.457 in 32 G) and Edmonton Trappers (.236/.310/.379 in 42 G).

Overall, the Washington State alumnus had a batting line of .273/.342/.424 with 46 triples and 362 runs in 680 minor league games. In 473 games as an outfielder, he fielded .990 with 53 assists.

Sources

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