Tom Poquette

Tom Poquette
Outfielder
Born: (1951-10-30) October 30, 1951
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1973, for the Kansas City Royals
Last MLB appearance
July 9, 1982, for the Kansas City Royals
MLB statistics
Batting average .268
Home runs 10
Runs batted in 136
Teams

Thomas Arthur Poquette (born October 30, 1951 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin) is a retired American outfielder who spent seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Kansas City Royals (1973, 1976–79, 1982), Boston Red Sox (1979, 1981) and Texas Rangers (1981).

Chris Knapp pitching to Poquette at Royals Stadium on September 19, 1976

Biography

Poquette is a 1970 graduate of Memorial High School in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Playing on the varsity team in three sports, he was a starter in both baseball and football for three years and basketball for two.[1] He was a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association baseball champions during his sophomore year in 1968.[2] He was eventually honored as one of 25 charter inductees into the school's athletics hall of fame in 2005.[3][4] He was also among the second induction class into the Eau Claire Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.[5]

He was selected in the fourth round (80th overall) by the Royals in the 1970 MLB draft.[6] He was a reserve on the Royals' American League (AL) West title teams in 1976, 1977 and 1978 and appeared in the League Championship Series in each of those three years.

Poquette was most noted for an injury he sustained on an inside-the-park grand slam hit by Kevin Bell in the third inning of a 14–8 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Royals Stadium on June 22, 1976. In pursuit of a deep line drive to left field, Poquette was unable to stop because his spikes got caught in the AstroTurf playing surface, and he violently crashed face-first into the outfield wall. He was knocked unconscious and fractured his left cheekbone in four places. After being placed on the disabled list, he was activated by the Royals less than a month later. The stadium's outfield wall was consequently lined with protective cushions to reduce the chances of such an occurrence.[7][8]

Poquette spent several seasons as a minor league baseball manager in the Royals organization, most recently with the Spokane Indians in 2002.

References

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