Scout Tales: Cliff Floyd

“Take the bat, leave the medal”

As a scout, there is a certain feeling when you see that special player. It can be a tingling sensation down your neck or a feeling of serenity, as you watch the player in action. It is amazing and just like the movies, as the player will move in slow motion as you become a part of the moment. It is a definite feeling and a high for the scout who hunts for the future major leaguer as he travels the countless miles.

Before his passing in 2020, Marlins pro scout Orrin Freeman related the following Scout Tale. In the role of national cross-checker for the Montreal Expos in 1991 for scouting director Gary Hughes, Freeman was dispatched to Chicago to watch Cliff Floyd as a senior at Thornwood’s Markham High School.

Floyd was a first baseman with a big bat. He jumped onto the scouts’ radar, especially for Expos area scout Stan Zielinski, during his junior season, when Floyd hit .449 with 13 home runs and 61 rib eyes in just 25 games. His senior season was also going very well, as Floyd would ultimately hit .557 with nine long balls and 69 RBI in 38 contests.

“I wasn’t getting a comfortable guy that I liked for our first pick,” said Freeman. “But I ended up seeing Cliff and he hit a couple of doubles and a triple into the wind.

“He showed the power and the speed, he was a 6.60 runner in the 60 (yard dash),” added Freeman. “On his triple, I was so excited that I stood up.”

Following the game he called Expos scouting director Gary Hughes with the line, “He’s our guy.”

As the draft neared, it was becoming apparent that Floyd would be available at No. 14 for the Expos. During pre-draft meetings, Hughes and his crew smiled as they watched Floyd on the Major League Scouting Bureau video tapes. Their only concern was with his fielding.

Showing more than a casual interest as a young General Manager, Dave Dombrowski wanted to see Floyd on tape. The problem was that Floyd was a terrible fielder and the tape made him look more like a low pick at a Little League draft, than a first-rounder for a Major League club.

Thus, Hughes would show Dombrowski just the hitting clips of Floyd, until the GM pressed to see the youngster with a glove. Well, Dombrowski was less than impressed to see Floyd going down on a knee to field ground balls that were hitting three feet in front of him. Floyd’s arm was also poor, as Freeman described it as, “his throwing looked like a hook shot.”

Then-Expos Director of Player Development John Boles chimed in that the fielding was not a problem, it was just in his feet and that his people could fix it.

Having convinced Dombrowski that Floyd was the guy; the Expos selected the Chicago native with their first-round pick in 1991. The franchise was rewarded with a big leaguer just two seasons later.

However after four seasons, the Expos brass had yet to see Floyd’s power emerge, as the lefty swinger belted just 12 home runs in 661 at bats. With the old Expos front office having moved in as the first Florida Marlins executives in 1992, Dombrowski would trade for Floyd during Spring Training in 1997. The outfielder would be a part of the Marlins ’97 World Championship club before maturing into an All-Star for the Fish in 2001, when he hit 31 long balls.

Floyd would enjoy a 17-year career, hitting .278 while connecting on 233 home runs as a bat for hire with the Expos, Marlins, Red Sox, Mets, Cubs, Rays and Padres.

It has always been a dream of sandlot youngsters to be immortalized on cardboard. To be on a real baseball card is the ultimate recognition of finally making it to the big leagues.

However, to bring rookie cards to collectors faster, Topps began to issue cards of the previous season’s top draft picks in the early 1990s. This is interesting, since these kids hadn’t made it to the majors, yet.

As evidence, we give you Cliff Floyd’s 1992 card, which was issued the year after the slugger was selected by the Montreal Expos.

Cards allow the player’s image to live forever. We have a feeling that Floyd has had to live this one down for years.

Our advice to high school players who are posing for their first baseball card… stand like big leaguer and lose the medal that you probably won at your Elementary School Field Day competition.