Lloyd Moseby


Lloyd Anthony Moseby is a former Major League Baseball player. A center fielder, and good all-around athlete, Moseby's nickname, Shaker, was said to stem from his ability to get away from or "shake" players who attempted to defend him on the basketball court.

Career

Born in Portland, Arkansas, Moseby graduated from Oakland High School in Oakland, California. Moseby's primary sport in high school was basketball and he did not take baseball seriously until his sophomore year of high school. Moseby had committed to play college basketball for St. Mary's, one of 75 schools to offer him a basketball scholarship, if he had not decided to sign with the Blue Jays.
Drafted 2nd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1978 amateur draft, Moseby made his major league debut on May 24, 1980. Despite some growing pains early in his career, Moseby developed into a well-polished batter, fielder, and base-runner, knocking in nearly 100 runs in three seasons and regularly stealing 30-plus bases. Moseby finished in the top 25 for the American League Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award twice—1983 and 1984.
In the mid-1980s, he was part of the powerful "Killer B's" outfield trio for the Jays, playing center field between George Bell and Jesse Barfield. On April 19, 1983, he hit a walk-off two-run home run against Dan Spillner to give the Blue Jays a 9-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians. After the 1989 season, Moseby signed with the Detroit Tigers. Moseby saw limited action with the Tigers for two seasons and then traveled to Japan, where he played with the Yomiuri Giants in 1992 and 1993.
Over his career, Moseby had 869 runs, 169 HRs, 737 RBIs, 280 SBs with a career batting average of.257. He was an All-Star in 1986. As of 2018, Moseby ranks in the top-10 for Toronto Blue Jays career leaders in WAR, games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, walks, stolen bases, and extra-base hits.
Moseby served as the Blue Jays' first base coach in 1998 and 1999.
In 2018, Moseby was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame., Moseby was living on Queens Quay in Toronto.