Background
Dayett was born in New London, Connecticut, grew up in Deep River, Connecticut and has a Little League Award named for him.
Dayett was born in New London, Connecticut, grew up in Deep River, Connecticut and has a Little League Award named for him.
Before being drafted, he attended Saint Leo University.
He also spent some time in Japan, playing for the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball from 1988 until 1991. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 16th round (416th overall) in the 1978 amateur entry draft. In 1978, his first year in the minors, Dayett hit 11 home runs in 68 games.
That same year, he capped off the Sounds" Southern League championship with a walk-off homer to left-center field
In 1983, he hit 35 home runs and had 108 RBIs for the American Automobile Association Columbus Clippers of the International League. He made his debut on September 11, 1983 at the age of 26, appearing as a pinch hitter for Omar Moreno.
He collected a hit in his first at-battalion He ended up hitting.207 in his rookie season.
On December 4, 1984, the Yankees traded Dayett with Ray Fontenot to the Chicago Cubs for Porfi Altamirano, Rich Bordi, Henry Cotto, and Ron Hassey.
Dayett was actually slated to be the Cubs starting right fielder for the 1987 season, but Andre Dawson, signed by the Cubs as a free agent, filled that position. This left Dayett to fill his normal reserve role, and he was not re-signed at the end of the season. Overall in his career, he was mostly used as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement.
In 218 games, he hit 14 home runs and 26 doubles in 426 at-bats, with a.258 batting average.
He committed only one error in his career for a.995 fielding percentage. In 2002, he was a coach for the Michigan Battle Cats.
In 2006, he was a coach for the Clinton LumberKings, and later served as the hitting coach for the Spokane Indians. Currently the roving hitting instructor for the Texas Rangers.