John Cotton

John Cotton is an American former professional baseball player and an Olympic gold medalist in baseball. Cotton has played 15 seasons in minor league baseball, his last coming in 2003. Over his career, he has played in the Cleveland Indians organization (1989–1993), the San Diego Padres organization (1994–1995), the Detroit Tigers organization (1996), the Chicago White Sox organization (1997), the Chicago Cubs organization (1998), the Colorado Rockies organization (1999–2000), the Montreal Expos organization (2001), the Los Angeles Dodgers organization (2001), the Pittsburgh Pirates organization (2001), and independent league baseball (2002–2003). During the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Cotton won a gold medal as a member of the United States national baseball team. Cotton has batted .256 with 1361 hits, 237 doubles, 59 triples and 190 home runs in 1530 minor league games. On the defensive side, Cotton has played 457 career games at second base, 570 in the outfield, 162 games at third base, 191 at first base, 35 games at shortstop and one game at catcher.