"'It came as a surprise, a total surprise,' Claudell Washington said of the trade which brought him to the Yankees from Atlanta last June. Another pleasant surprise was the level of excellence at which the outfielder performed in the Yankees' pennant race a year ago. Washington saw his average hover around .340 with a pair of homers in the early stages of his Yankee tenure, before seeing his average dip.
On the defensive end, the 12-year vet also proved to be invaluable. Washington handled all three outfield spots, but was used mostly to spell Rickey Henderson in center.
With his good speed and base stealing potential, Washington could prove to be a real asset in 1987.
'I didn't wanted to be traded from Atlanta,' he says, 'but I was glad to be going to a good organization like the Yankees."
-The New York Yankees Official 1987 Yearbook
"Claudell was acquired by the Yankees along with Paul Zuvella on June 29 from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Ken Griffey. At the time of the trade, he was hitting .270 (37-for-137) with the Braves in 32 games with 17 runs, 11 doubles, five home runs and 14 RBIs and was 4-for-11 in stolen base attempts. With the Yankees, he played 54 games and batted .237 (32-for-135) with 19 runs, five doubles, six home runs and 16 RBIs and was 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. Overall with both clubs in '86 he hit .254 (69-for-272) in 86 games with 36 runs, 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 30 RBIs while stealing 10 bases in 17 attempts.
He started the season slowly, hitting just .211 (15-for-71) in 20 games through May 5 with two homers and four RBIs. In that span he missed four games after suffering a pulled groin muscle against Los Angeles on April 19. In nine games from May 6-17, he batted .333 (10-for-30) with three home runs and seven RBIs to raise his average to .248; Claudell went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs on May 9 against Philadelphia, then went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs (including the game winner) on May 13 at New York. After complaining of neck stiffness, however, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 19 (retroactive to May 18) and missed almost a month of action.
Claudell was activated before the game against Cincinnati on June 16. He played 11 games with the Braves following his activation until his trade, and in those 11 contests he hit .333 (12-for-36). Included in those outings was a 3-for-5 performance on June 18 against Los Angeles and a 4-for-5 outing (his four hits representing his season high) on June 23 at Los Angeles.
He made his Yankee debut on June 30 against Detroit, going 1-for-4, then went 3-for-5 against Detroit on July 3 including his first home run as a Yankee, a solo shot off Eric King. Claudell had another three-hit game on July 5 at Chicago, going 3-for-5 with his second Yankee home run, a solo blast off Gene Nelson.
After 11 games with the Yankees through July 12, he was batting .343 (12-for-35) with eight runs, three home runs and six RBIs (including two game winning RBIs). He hit .333 (6-for-18) over a five-game stretch from June 21-27 with three runs, two homers and five RBIs. At this point, after 20 games with the Yankees, he was hitting .281 (18-for-64) with 11 runs, five homers and 11 RBIs.
In his remaining 34 games through the end of the season, Claudell hit .197 (14-for-71) with eight runs, a homer and five RBIs. He entered 11 of his final 12 games in a pinch-hitting capacity.
Claudell started 29 games after joining the Yankees. As a pinch hitter with the Yanks, he batted .227 (5-for-22) with a home run (a solo homer off Walt Terrell on September 26 against Detroit) and two RBIs. Against lefties he hit .214 (3-for-14) with no homers or RBIs, and against righties he hit .240 (29-for-121) with six homers and 16 RBIs. Claudell is one of 34 players to perform for both the Mets and Yankees.
In 1974 at age 19, Claudell was called up to the majors with Oakland and was later named to the Major League Rookie team in just his third pro season. He tied a World Series record for most positions played when he played all three outfield positions in the '74 World Series. He batted .571 (4-for-7) against the Dodgers in that Series.
In 1975 he hit a career high .308 with the A's in 148 games, with a career high 182 base hits. His 77 RBIs is the second best single season total of his career, and he also had a career high 40 stolen bases. In 1976 Claudell hit .257 in his final season in Oakland. He was selected to the 1976 American League All-Star team and singled in his only at-bat.
Claudell was traded from Oakland to Texas for pitcher Jim Umbarger, infielder Rodney Scott and cash estimated at $100,000 in March 1977 and hit .284 with the Rangers in 129 games with 12 home runs and 68 RBIs. He began the 1978 season with the Rangers, but was traded along with outfielder Rusty Torres and cash to the White Sox for outfielder Bobby Bonds in May. In 1979, his only full season with the White Sox, he hit .280 in 131 games with 79 runs, 13 homers and 66 RBIs. Claudell hit three home runs against Detroit on July 14.
He was acquired by the Mets from the White Sox in June of 1980 in exchange for pitcher Jesse Anderson and tied three New York records: he hit three home runs in one game (at Los Angeles on June 21), three doubles in one game (against Atlanta on July 30) and had RBIs in seven consecutive games in July. The only others to hit three homers in a game in both leagues are Babe Ruth and Johnny Mize. Claudell was granted free agency in October 1980 and signed with the Braves in November.
In his first at-bat in an Atlanta uniform, he doubled as the leadoff hitter on Opening Night of 1981, later scoring. He led the Braves with a .291 average [that year]. Claudell had three game winning RBIs during the 13-game winning streak that began the Braves' 1982 season, including a two-run ninth inning single which won game No. 13. He helped lead the Braves to the National League West title. He was named National League Player of the Month for September because of his play down the stretch, and provided incentive to his teammates on a West Coast trip, inviting them to his home to view his World Series trophy, telling his fellow Braves 'this is what we're playing for.' Claudell topped the Braves in stolen bases (33) and triples (6), and tied Dale Murphy for club leadership in game winning RBIs and finished second in runs scored (94). He tied an Atlanta record with three stolen bases in a September 28 game against San Francisco.
Claudell had a disappointing 1983 season, although he did hit .278, and had just nine home runs and 44 RBIs in 134 games. He hit a career high 17 home runs in 1984 and batted over .300 most of the season before a succession of minor injuries limited his play to only two appearances after August. During the early part of the season he had 12 doubles, 11 homers and a .324 average at the All-Star break, earning him a spot on the National League All-Star team. Of his 17 homers, four were hit off Cincinnati's Mario Soto, including two in the same game on April 18. Claudell hit a first inning leadoff home run on five occasions. He led the Braves in stolen bases with 21, was second on the club in batting (.286), home runs, runs scored (62), RBIs (61) and total bases (195) and finished third in hits (119) and at-bats (416).
In 1985 Claudell started 90 games in right field but was platooned at that position in the latter part of the season. He hit .290 against righties and .206 in his limited action against lefties, and hit 14 of his 15 home runs off right-handers. He led the Braves with 14 stolen bases and six triples.
Claudell stole three bases in one game that year (April 25 at Houston) for the fourth time in his career. He hit three home runs in three games, June 1-4, and reached the 5,000 at-bat mark in his major league career with a home run on June 13 against Cincinnati. He batted .357 (15-for-42) with three doubles, two triples and a home run in a 12 game stretch from July 10-27.
Claudell graduated from Berkeley (CA) High School in 1972, and was a member of the track team but did not play baseball in high school. He was scouted while playing Connie Mack ball and signed by Oakland off the Berkeley sandlots following graduation during Charlie Finley's regime."
-1987 New York Yankees Information Guide
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