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Originally Posted by Terry D

Kerry (Rusty) Tillman was one of the many guys whose ability hovered right on the edge of major league effectiveness. Drafted by the Mets in '79, Rusty worked his way up the ladder fairly quickly and made his major league debut with New York in 1982 (.154, 0 RBI, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 2B in 13 AB). He got on the bad side of some people in the Mets organization, though, and became a nomad shifting from one outfit to another. He got his most playing time (42 PA) with the '86 Oakland A's (.256 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB) and wound up his MLB career with four token appearances for the 1988 San Francisco Giants. Rusty wasn't ready to quit, though, and he played in the minors and then for years in the Mexican League, where he also managed briefly. Rusty played so little in the bigs that it's hard to say how good he was or could have been if he'd been given an extended opportunity. His minor league stats are regrettably incomplete, but he hit for some fairly good averages in AAA with some steals (not too many) and some HRs (not too many). I have no idea how good he was defensively. Rusty was also a human interest story. There was a reason why he spent so much time in Mexico. He'd made some connections down there one year and in 1986 he shuttled back and forth between Mexico and the bay area carrying supplies of enhancement drugs for his teammate Jose Canseco. Rusty got deep into drugs himself and his life fell apart. At one point, he was living in a tent in the woods in his native Jacksonville. I am happy to report that he has since found help and has pulled himself back together. The last I checked he was even running a baseball school. There are some very good color shots of Rusty with the Mets and one pretty good BW Giants photo, but nada for the A's--until now. Here is a newspaper image of him (Napa Valley Register, Sept 30 86). Not great, maybe, but it should do for the nonce.

Here is a clearer image of Tillman with the A's, taken during spring training 1987, as currently offered by Larry Fritsch Cards.