Lane Adams

Lane Weston Adams

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 190 lb.
• High School Red Oak (OK) High School
• Debut September 1, 2014
• Final Game September 30, 2018

• Born November 13, 1989 in Talihina, OK USA

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Biographical Information

Outfielder Lane Adams was an outstanding basketball player in high school, setting a school record with 61 points in one game. He was offered a basketball scholarship by Southwest Missouri State University but chose to play baseball after being selected in the 13th round of the 2009 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals.

Lane reached the majors as a September call up in 2014 in time for their first pennant race in nearly three decades. He was used only 6 times, as a defensive replacement in the outfield and a pinch runner, scoring a run and going 0-for-3 at the plate. He was back in AA in 2015, hitting .298 in 97 games for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and then .226 in 37 games with the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers. His combined batting line was .281/.347/.445 in 134 games with 16 homers, 26 doubles, 72 runs scored and 62 RBI. He also was successful in 31 of 38 stolen base attempts. He was not called up as the Royals won their first World Series title since 1985. On January 15, 2016, he was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees. He was only on the team's roster for a couple of weeks; on February 1st, he was let go to create roster space for infielder Ronald Torreyes. It was a turning of the tables, as Torreyes was cut by the Yankees to make room for Adams. Torreyes had been the property of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the intervening period, but the Yankees jumped on the chance to reacquire him when the Angels no longer had room for him on their roster, and now Adams was the one to pay the price. Lane was outrighted to the minor leagues after going unclaimed. He spent all of 2016 in the minors playing at both AA and AAA in the Yankees and Chicago Cubs organizations, giving him games with four different clubs. Altogether, he got into 121 games, hitting .266/.342/.388 with 10 homers, 66 runs scored and 56 RBI. The Cubs signed him as a free agent at the start of August but did not call him up.

He moved to the Atlanta Braves after the season and began 2017 with the AAA Gwinnett Braves. On April 27th, he returned to the Show when called up by Atlanta. On June 8th, he became one of the rare players to play in both a minor league and major league on the same day. He played that afternoon's game with Gwinnett, getting a couple of hits, then was headed home after the game when his manager, Damon Berryhill, informed him he was needed with the major league Braves and had to head to SunTrust Park immediately, as Adonis Garcia had just been placed on the disabled list. He negotiated Atlanta's notorious rush hour, first heading back to Coolray Field to pick up his equipment, and then realized that the only way to make it to the ballpark in decent time was to skirt traffic laws and use the high occupancy vehicle lane illegally. He made it to the AAA team's park by 6:15, then five minutes later headed back 40 miles to make it to the Braves' new major league home by 7:00 pm. He entered the Braves game against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 7th inning and went 0-for-2. On June 22nd, he hit the first homer of his career, a pinch-hit, three-run shot as part of an eight-run 5th inning in an 11-10 win over the San Francisco Giants. On September 10th, he hit another spectacular homer, this one coming in the 11th inning off Vance Worley of the Miami Marlins, a two-run walk-off shot that gave Atlanta a 10-8 win and incidentally allowed the Washington Nationals to become the first team to clinch a postseason slot that year.

Adams returned to Atlanta for 2018 and was DFAed on April 19th, refusing a subsequent minor league assignment and becoming a free agent. He returned to the Cubs organization for two months, earning his release in June and headed back to the Braves organization, earning another stint in the bigs as a September call up. In 25 big league at bats for the year, he batted .240/.345/.520. A free agent at season's end, he split 2019 in the minor leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies and his third stint within the Braves chain before signing with the Minnesota Twins in February 2020.

Related Sites

• Lane Adams on mlb.com