Pat Adams

Patrick Ralph Adams

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 215 lb.
• School University of Detroit Mercy
• High School Notre Dame High School

• Born June 12, 1959 in Detroit, MI USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

First baseman Pat Adams spent eight seasons in the minors, from 1981 to 1988. He played four years in AAA yet never made the majors.

He was on Team USA for the 1980 Amateur World Series. He was drafted in 1981 by the Chicago White Sox in the 19th round of that year's amateur draft. He split 1981 between the GCL White Sox (15 games, .289 average) and Appleton Foxes (46 games, .211 average), hitting a combined .228 in 206 at-bats. In 1982, he played for the Foxes again and hit only .189/.320/.294 with six home runs in 333 at-bats, striking out 99 times. The third time was the charm in 1983, as he once again played for the Foxes and improved markedly, hitting .292/.395/.465 with 13 home runs and 71 RBI in 120 games. He led Midwest League first basemen in assists (107) and was second in the MWL in doubles, one behind Terry Lee.

Adams played for the Glens Falls White Sox in 1984 and hit .283 with 24 home runs and 102 RBI in 137 games, numbers good enough to win him the Eastern League MVP Award. He led EL first basemen with 131 assists, 46 more than runner-up Lee. He also paced the loop in home runs (the only player over 20), RBI (the only one over 100), total bases (234), strikeouts (106) and game-winning RBI (17). His 8 intentional walks tied Mickey Tettleton, Wally Joyner and Rick Stromer for the league lead. He beat out Joyner and Lee among others for All-Star honors at first. In addition to Joyner, Kal Daniels was also a strong MVP candidate who lost out to Adams. From 1983-2009, every other EL MVP would appear in the majors.

On September 8, 1984, he was sent to the San Francisco Giants with Mike Trujillo as the players to be named later in a deal that netted the White Sox Tom O'Malley. With the Phoenix Firebirds in 1985, Adams hit .262/~.362/.397 with 11 home runs in 116 games. He played for the Shreveport Captains (15 games) and Firebirds (96 games) in 1986, hitting a combined .291/.376/.508 with 17 home runs and 72 RBI in 111 games. Unfortunately for him, San Francisco leapfrogged former Olympian Will Clark past Adams on the depth chart, making it unlikely Adams would make it to the majors. In 1987, he again split the year between the Captains and Firebirds, hitting .261/.360/.414 with nine home runs and 42 RBI in 104 games.

He wrapped up his career in 1988, playing in the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers systems as well as the Mexican League. He spent part of the year with the West Palm Beach Expos and part with the the Albuquerque Dukes, hitting .188/.381/.235 in 36 games between the two US stops. In 27 games for the Mexico City Tigers, he put up a .267/.365/.400 line.

Overall, Adams hit .260 with 84 home runs in 824 minor league games.

Sources include 1982-1985 and 1989 Baseball Guides, 1986 Baseball America Statistics Report, Defunct IBAF site

Notable Achievements

• 1984 MVP Eastern League Glens Falls White Sox