Lloyd McClendon

Lloyd Glenn McClendon (born January 11, 1959) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager.

In 1971, McClendon played in the Little League World Series for his hometown Gary, Indiana, team, and earned the nickname "Legendary Lloyd" by homering in five consecutive at bats.

In fact, they were his only official at-bats, as in every other plate appearance the opposing coaches had him intentionally walked.

McClendon's 1971 team was the first all-African American team to reach the final stage of the LLWS.

He attended Roosevelt High School in Gary and graduated in 1977.

McClendon played collegiate baseball at Valparaiso University, not far from Gary.

While at Valparaiso, he compiled a career batting average of .330, and produced 18 home runs and 73 runs batted in.

Twice he received all-conference honors (1979 and 1980).

McClendon was drafted by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft as a catcher.

He began his professional baseball career with the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League.

After the 1982 season, he was traded along with two other players to the Cincinnati Reds in a deal to bring Mets legend Tom Seaver back to New York.

1983 was the first season in which McClendon began to play significantly at positions other than catcher, playing both third and first base while with the Waterbury Reds.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1987 to 1994 for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He continued to be used as a utility player over the next several seasons before finally breaking into the majors with the Reds in 1987.

McClendon made his major league debut on Opening Day in 1987 as a pinch hitter, He spent most of the season with the Reds, aside from a brief return to the minors with the Nashville Sounds in August.

He played in 45 games, mostly as a pinch hitter, but also appeared at five different positions in the field (catcher, first base, third base, and left and right field).

1988 saw McClendon playing a similar role, although his playing time increased.

He again played five positions on defense while batting .219 in 72 games overall.

After the season, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Rolando Roomes.

McClendon saw the most playing time of his major league career with the Cubs in 1989.

Playing mostly left field and first base, he batted .286 with career highs in home runs with 12 and runs batted in with 40.

He also scored a career-best 47 runs and even stole 6 bases.

McClendon struggled at the plate in 1990, however, playing in 49 games for the Cubs and batting an anemic .159.

Late in the season, he was traded to the Pirates for a player to be named later.

McClendon played in 4 games for the Pirates at the end of 1990, going 1-for-3 at the plate.

He played 37 games, including his first games at third base since 1990.

However, he never received a promotion to the majors, and retired after the season.

He bounced back to hit .286 in 1991, but slumped to .253 in 1992 and .221 in 1993.

In the 1992 postseason, he batted .727 while playing in five games of the 1992 National League Championship Series, collecting eight hits in eleven at-bats.

It is the highest batting average posted in one postseason.

He played for the Pirates through the end of the 1994 season, spending most of his time in the outfield.

He was hitting .239 in 1994 when the season was interrupted by a players' strike, and after the season became a free agent.

McClendon signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1995.

After failing to make the team out of spring training, he was assigned to the Buffalo Bisons.

After retiring from playing, McClendon served as a hitting coach for the Pirates until he was appointed manager after the 2000 season.

At the time of his hiring, he became the first African American manager or head coach of any of Pittsburgh's three major sports teams, preceding the Steelers hiring of Mike Tomlin by six years.

After his playing career McClendon served as the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2001 to 2005 and the Seattle Mariners from 2014 to 2015.

McClendon held the Pirates managerial position until he was fired September 6, 2005.

In his five seasons as manager of the Pirates, McClendon compiled a 336–446 record.

He most recently served as the interim manager for the Detroit Tigers in 2020.