Scanlon was originally drafted by the Expos in
1970 after excelling as a three sport athlete at
Benilde High School in
St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He was traded with
Tony Scott and
Steve Dunning from the
Expos to the
St. Louis Cardinals for
Bill Greif,
Sam Mejías and
Ángel Torres on November 8, 1976. All three players coming to St. Louis had spent the 1976 season with the
Denver Bears which were led by recently-hired Cardinals manager
Vern Rapp. Scanlon
batted .308 with 18
home runs and 75
runs batted in (RBI) during that campaign. After starting the
1977 season in the minor leagues, Scanlon was traded for a second time within a seven-month span, along with
John D'Acquisto from the
Cardinals to the
San Diego Padres for
Butch Metzger on May 17, 1977. He returned to the Expos organization in 1978-79, then finished his playing career in the
Chicago White Sox farm system in the 1980s. In 2013, Scanlon was inducted into the first ever class of the
Benilde-St. Margaret's Athletic Hall of Fame. == Personal life ==