Virginia Beach native Trey McCoy starred at Virginia Tech, being inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2007. As a freshman, he tied the NCAA record for grand slams (four), as a sophomore he won the conference Triple Crown, and when he left after his junior season he had the school record for batting average (.374) and was 2nd all-time in HR and RBI. His slugging percentage was still, as of 2007, the 7th-best in NCAA history.
Drafted in the 9th round by the Rangers…wait, the
9th round? Well, yeah, because while McCoy was the real McCoy at bat, in the field he was an outfielder…but not much of one. In his entire professional career, he never posted a Range Factor of 2.00 or higher during any year's work in the outfield. And this proved to not be enough Range for the Rangers.
Still, he could rake. In his initial half-season at rookie-level Butte, he posted a .357/.458/.635. And the Rangers at least gave him a shot in the outfield, playing him there 49 times, as opposed to 11 games at 1B and 8 at DH (or perhaps PH). But that "sterling" 1.31 Range Factor McCoy recorded soon had Texas rethinking this; in no other season did he play more than half of his games in the outfield.
1989 saw McCoy moved to Gastonia in the Sally League. The hitting slumped a little (.280/.377/.473 in 130 games), perhaps because McCoy was sulking about being primarily a DH (67 games, 42 OF, 21 at 1B). I have to admit, I can see the Rangers' point, given that in 42 OF games, McCoy only caught 41 fly balls and committed 8 errors. Clank!
So the Rangers sent him back to Gastonia in 1990, rather than the promotion his bat might otherwise have merited. He continued to hit (.338/.415/.563), but grew frustrated at his lack of progress and briefly retired. The Rangers lured McCoy back by promoting him to Port Charlotte in the FSL, but he struggled there (.688 OPS) and retired again.
1991 saw more frustration. The Rangers now were touting McCoy as a catcher/first baseman, despite the fact that McCoy had never caught an inning professionally, nor would he ever so do. They'd moved him up to AA Tulsa to challenge him and he rose to the occasion with a .902 OPS, despite only hitting .241. But he only played 44 games, so there may have been another retirement in there.
More struggles at Tulsa in '92 (.608 OPS) saw McCoy back in Gastonia, where he continued to devour the Sally League. (.354/.496/.657). But he only played 47 games, again. Perhaps there was an injury as well?
Finally, in 1993 it all came together, as McCoy got in a full season's work at Tulsa and led the Texas League in HR (29) and RBI (95). His .988 OPS saw him bumped up to AAA Oklahoma City for the season's final week, and he was even better at the higher level (.250/.382/.679). So the next year, he got a steady job DHing for Oklahoma City and if the numbers were only slightly less stellar (.306/.389/.521), surely they were enough to earn at least a September look-see from the big club?
Except, of course, this was 1994, and there was no September for McCoy to earn his call-up to. And the next year, the scramble for veteran free agents led to the Rangers stocking Oklahoma City with the likes of Jim Lindeman (and, later, Sam Horn) and McCoy found himself out of a job. He hooked on with his hometown Norfolk squad, but his bat had slowed and after a season or so of mostly pinch-hitting, he had washed out as a Tide, too. So he went home. Which, as noted, was only in Virginia Beach, anyway.
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