Sam Mejías

Samuel Elías Mejías [may-hee'-ahs] (born May 9, 1952) is a former backup outfielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1976 through 1981 for the St. Louis Cardinals (1976), Montreal Expos (1977–78), Chicago Cubs (1979) and Cincinnati Reds (1979–81). Listed at 6'0", 170 lb., Mejías batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. His brother, Marcos Mejias also played professional baseball.

Minor Leagues
Mejias was signed as a minor league free agent on October 24, 1970, by the Milwaukee Brewers Brewers. On June 23, 1976, the Brewers sent Sam Mejias to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the earlier deal made on June 7, 1976. (June 7, 1976: The Milwaukee Brewers sent a player to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for Danny Frisella).

St Louis Cardinals
Mejias made his Major League debut on September 6, 1976. He would play 17 games for the Cardinals, batting .143.

Montreal Expos
He was traded along with Bill Greif and Ángel Torres from the Cardinals to the Montreal Expos for Tony Scott, Steve Dunning and Pat Scanlon on November 8, 1976.

Cincinnati Reds
Mejias' contract was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds. Mejias only appeared in 7 games for the Reds in 1979, but he had two serviceable years as a part-time player for the Reds in 1980 and 1981 batting .278 and .286 respectively. He was released by the Reds after their 1981 season.

Career
In a six-season career, Mejías was a .247 hitter (86-for-348) with four home runs and 31 RBI in 334 games, including 51 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, and eight stolen bases. Mejias was more known for his defensive abilities than offensive aptitude.

Post career
Following his playing career, Mejías managed from 1983 to 1992 in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system, and later coached in the majors for the Seattle Mariners (1993-1999) and Baltimore Orioles (2007).