totally random, vol. 2.1

Today’s subject: Cleo James. The Clarksdale native had a largely undistinguished major league career, batting .228 in 381 at-bats over parts of four seasons. Born in the Mississippi Delta, he grew up in California and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1961. It took him seven years to make the big leagues. The Chicago Cubs drafted him from the Dodgers and he played somewhat regularly for them in 1970 and ’71, batting .287 in the latter season as a platooning outfielder on a star-studded club with Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ole Miss alum Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert, Ferguson Jenkins, et. al. James hit .296 in his minor league career, stealing as many as 46 bases in a season and hitting 11 homers in another. He just couldn’t reproduce those numbers in The Show. But James can claim this bit of trivia: He is one of only two players in MLB history to go by the name Cleo. The other was Cleo Carlyle, who played for the Boston Red Sox in 1927.