Rodney Lofton

Rodney Benjamin Lofton

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 160 lb.
• School Grambling State University
• High School East St. Louis High School
• Born October 7, 1967 in East St. Louis, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Rodney Lofton played in the minor leagues from 1988 to 1995. Despite spending parts of five seasons at Triple-A, he never reached the major leagues.

He was initially drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 1988 amateur draft and began his professional career that season. In 72 games for the Erie Orioles, he hit .299/.386/.359 with 37 stolen bases, finishing third in the loop in steals.

The next year, with the Frederick Keys, Lofton hit .243/.324/.271 with 62 stolen bases in 127 games. He finished third in the loop in plate appearances (541) and at-bats (473) and paced the loop in steals and caught stealing (21). Despite having 115 hits, he collected only 11 extra base hits--nine doubles and two triples.

He split 1990 between three teams, the Keys (two games), Hagerstown Suns (89 games) and Rochester Red Wings (14 games). Combined, he hit .269/.322/.305 with 27 stolen bases in 105 games. In 1991, he hit .282/.355/.325 with 56 stolen bases for the Suns (118 games) and Red Wings (three games). He paced the Eastern League in steals and also hit the first home run of his professional career that season.

1992 was another down year for the speedster, as he hit only .243/.283/.283 with 21 stolen bases for the Suns (50 games) and Red Wings (52 games).

On December 9, 1992, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for minor leaguers Jason Satre and Reggie Leslie. He spent 12 games in the Reds organization before winding up in the Milwaukee Brewers system. All told, he hit .252/.322/.357 with 18 stolen bases in 79 games in 1993.

He rebounded in 1994, hitting .331/.378/.446 with 21 stolen bases and 70 runs scored for the El Paso Diablos, earning a spot on the Texas League All-Star team. However, in 1995, he hit only .217/.264/.258 with nine stolen bases in 102 games for the New Orleans Zephyrs to wrap up his professional career.

Overall, he hit .268/.332/.324 with 251 stolen bases and 403 runs scored in 800 games. He hit only .219 at the Triple-A level.