A Blue Jay from the Past: Robert Person

Do you remember Robert Person?

This is “A Blue Jay from the Past”. Each week, I’ll spin every Blue Jays’ season in the Wheel of Names and pick a player who played a significant number of games for the Toronto Blue Jays, ideally a full season. This week, the Wheel of Names landed on the 1997 season, with the player we’ll look at in today’s article being Robert Person. Last week, we looked at Marco Scutaro.

Attending Seminole State College and the University of Arkansas, Person was selected in the 25th round of the 1989 draft by Cleveland. The right-handed pitcher made his professional debut that season, posting a 3.18 ERA in rookie ball. In 1990, Person posted a 2.90 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched at three different levels. Before the 1991 trade deadline, Person was traded to the Chicago White Sox, where he spent parts of two seasons.

During the 1992 off-season, Person was selected by the Florida Marlins in the expansion draft, pitching the entirety of the season in their organization. The St. Louis-native re-signed with the Marlins for the 1994 season, but was traded to the New York Mets before the season began.

Person made his big league debut in 1995 as a 25-year-old, pitching 12 innings with the Mets, where he had a 0.75 ERA and a 3.02 FIP. He became a regular with the Mets in 1996, posting a 4.52 ERA and a 5.03 FIP in 89.2 innings pitched, with a 19.5 K% and a 9 BB%. After the 1996 season, the Jays acquired him for John Olerud.

In 1997, Person didn’t have a great first season with the Jays, authoring a 5.61 ERA and 5.01 FIP in 128.1 innings pitched, making 22 starts in 23 appearances. Person pitched exclusively as a reliever in 1998, finishing with a career-worst 7.04 ERA and a 6.45 FIP in 38.1 innings pitched.

The righty’s struggles continued in 1999, posting a 9.82 ERA and a 7.32 FIP in 11 innings pitched. On May 5, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Paul Spoljaric, who was eventually traded to the Seattle Mariners for Jose Cruz. With the Phillies, he finished the season mainly in the rotation, where he had a 4.27 ERA and a 5.04 FIP in 137 innings pitched.

Person’s best season came in 2000, finishing the season with a 3.63 ERA and a 3.96 FIP, with a 22.1 K% and a 12.8 BB% in 173.1 innings pitched for a 3.4 fWAR. His career-high in innings came in 2001, finishing the season with 208.1 innings pitched, where he had a 4.19 ERA and a 4.68 FIP.

Although Person’s 2002 season wasn’t great (5.44 ERA and a 5.41 FIP in 87.2 innings pitched), he hit two home runs against the Montreal Expos, including a grand slam in an early June game. His final season in the big leagues was in 2003 with the Boston Red Sox, finishing with a 7.71 ERA and a 3.63 FIP in 11.2 innings pitched.

Person’s final season before retirement was in 2005, splitting his time between Triple-A and the Independent Leagues.