Early Eighties Mets Second Round Draft Pick: Floyd Youmans (1982-1984)

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Floyd Everett Youmans was born on May 11, 1964 in Florida. The right handed pitcher was a child hood friend of Dwight Gooden in Tampa. The two pitchers went to the same high school & were teammates on the baseball team.


In 1982 he was the New York Mets second round pick, behind Dwight Gooden and his future looked bright. He did well enough at A ball Columbia winning 12 games to get the promotion to AA in 1984. He then bounced back & forth from A to AA before getting traded to the Montreal Expos along with Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald and Herm Winningham in the Gary Carter deal.


Youmans went 20-8 in various levels of the Expos system and got called up in the middle of the 1985 season. He went 4-3 with a good 2.45 ERA (best on the staff) in 77 innings & 14 games for Montreal.

On June 8th 1986, he tossed a one hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, striking out eight. A month later on July 9th, he tossed a two hit 2-1 win over the Houston Astros. In 33 games, he was third in the league with 202 strikeouts, posting another good ERA (3.53). He did have control issues, which led to leading the league in walks (118) and a 13-12 record.


Drama: It all fell apart by 1987, as Youmans checked himself into rehab. He admitted to using cocaine & eventually alcohol as well. He was suspended for sixty days, as he failed to comply with his drug-testing program & did not return to the major leagues that season. In December '87 he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitcher Kevin Gross. That August, Youmans was injured, needed Arthroscopic shoulder surgery and his career was done.



Retirement: In five MLB seasons, he was 30-34 with a 3.74 career ERA, 424 strike outs in 539 innings pitched.

He attempted two comebacks; first during the 1993 Players Strike as a replacement player, & later on in Canada but nothing came of either attempt. He also pitched in Independent baseball in the mid nineties.

 Retirement: In 2008 & 2009, Youmans was the pitching coach for the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League.

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