Scott Little
Dennis Scott Little
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 198 lb.
- School Mineral Area College, University of Missouri
- High School Scott City High School
- Debut July 27, 1989
- Final Game August 6, 1989
- Born January 19, 1963 in East St. Louis, IL USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Scott Little played professional baseball for eight seasons, including a brief appearance in the majors, after which he has coached and managed in the minor leagues.
1984-1987: Mets minor leaguer[edit]
Little was chosen by the New York Mets in the 7th round of the 1984 amateur draft. He debuted that year with the Little Falls Mets, hitting .298/~.406/.360. He just missed the New York-Penn League's top 10 in batting average, led the league in times hit by pitch (9), tied for second in outfield assists (11) and led in steals (34 in 42 tries). Promoted to the Lynchburg Mets, he batted .236/~.346/.313 in 1985. He stole 29 bases, drew 79 walks, legged out 7 triples and scored 70 runs but the power was clearly poor for an outfielder.
Scott split 1986 between Lynchburg (.244/~.353/.390, only 5 SB in 58 games) and the Jackson Mets (.208/~.276/.260). In 1987, Little began a third year with Lynchburg and played 19 games before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates with Al Pedrique for Bill Almon.
1987-1991: Playing in the Pirates system[edit]
Little spent most of the 1987 season with the Salem Buccaneers; overall, he hit .292/~.385/.463 in his two Carolina League stops that year, with 19 steals. He just missed the league's top 10 in average. In 1099, Scott did a fine job for the Harrisburg Senators. In a utility role, he batted .290/~.352/.398 and stole 27 bases in 118 games. He was 8th in the Eastern League in average. In a brief stint with the Buffalo Bisons, he only went 1 for 16 in 4 games.
Scott spent most of 1989 with Buffalo and batted .295/~.335/.389. He spent about a week and a half with the 1989 Pirates. He went 1 for 4 in his major league career, singling against Scott Sanderson. In the 1989-1990 winter season, Little hit .239/~.343/.319 for the Tiburones de La Guaira. Back in Buffalo in 1990, Little hit just .226/~.328/.302 in 36 games, though he was 8 for 9 in steal attempts. He was diagnosed early in the year with a strained right shoulder but it wound up being a viral infection, which sidelined him most of the season and contributed to his poor production.
1991 was another rocky campaign for Little as he hit .242/~.352/.309 in 62 games and missed over a month due to a broken left hand. At age 28, the injury-riddled outfielder's playing career was over.
1991-present: Coach and Manager[edit]
In the last month of the 1991 season, Scott began coaching first base for the Bisons, opening a new career path. He then joined with Trent Jewett as a manager in the instructial league from September to November. Jewett and Little were both hired by the Pirates as minor league managers for 1992 and Scott would serve over a decade managing in the minors. Little spent 2001 as a coach for the Altoona Curve, then moved to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as a minor league manager. He spent 2006 as the Washington Nationals Minor League Coordinator and in 2007 took over as skipper of the Washington Nationals AA club, the Harrisburg Senators. After the 2007 season, Little was named manager of the Frisco RoughRiders, a role he held for two years.
After his managerial career, Little scouted for the Dodgers, signing Freddie Cabrera, Garrett Gould and Scott Schebler. Moving to the Colorado Rockies' organization, he returned to the field as hitting coach for the Boise Hawks in 2016. He was scheduled to be manager of the Lancaster JetHawks in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19.
Sources: 1985, 1989 and 1991 Baseball Guides, 1986-1987 Baseball America Statistics Reports, 1988-1992 Baseball Almanacs, 1992 Pittsburgh Press Minor League Spotlight article "Little manages to stay with game he loves" by Ken Mrazik
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