Highlighted Year: Don Mincher, 1969

First Baseman, Seattle Pilots

Age: 31 (June 24)

1^st season with Pilots

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 205 

Prior to 1969:

A native of Huntsville, Alabama Mincher played football and basketball as well as baseball at Butler High School, captaining the football and baseball teams as a senior. All-State in football, he turned down a football scholarship to the University of Alabama to pursue a baseball career. Having also played American Legion baseball, he was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1956 for $4000. Initially assigned to Duluth-Superior of the Class C Northern League in ’56, the 18-year-old first baseman batted .282 in 78 games with 19 extra-base hits, 49 RBIs, and a .398 on-base percentage. With Duluth-Superior again in 1957, Mincher hit .288 with 21 doubles, 4 triples, 13 home runs, 80 RBIs, a .387 OBP, and a .440 slugging percentage. He also led the league’s first basemen in putouts (1103), assists (62), and double plays (99). Moving up to Davenport of the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa (or Three I) League in 1958, Mincher was a league All-Star as he batted .330 with 29 doubles, 23 home runs, 97 RBIs, a .427 OBP, and a .544 slugging percentage. Advancing to Charleston of the Class A South Atlantic (or Sally) League in 1959 he hit .272 with 22 home runs, 92 RBIs, a .353 OBP, and a .442 slugging percentage. Prior to the 1960 season he was traded to the Washington Senators as part of the deal for first baseman Roy Sievers. Mincher started the season with the Senators but with his average at .230 he was sent to the Charleston Senators of the Class AAA American Association where he batted .306 with 32 doubles, 12 home runs, 65 RBIs, a .374 OBP, and a .489 slugging percentage. Recalled to the Senators in September his totals in 27 major league games were .241 with 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, and a .330 OBP. With the franchise becoming the Minnesota Twins in 1961, Mincher again spent most of the season in Class AAA, this time with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, hitting .257 with 24 home runs, 66 RBIs, a .349 OBP, and a .497 slugging percentage. In 35 games with the Twins he hit .188 with 5 homers and 11 RBIs. With Minnesota in 1962, while newly-acquired veteran Vic Power handled regular duty at first base, Mincher appeared in 86 games, pinch-hitting in 63 of them. He had two homers and 5 RBIs in a late April game at Cleveland and went on to bat .240 with 9 home runs, 29 RBIs, a .406 OBP thanks to 34 walks in 157 plate appearances, and a .488 slugging percentage. Getting more action at first base in 1963, Mincher hit .258 with 17 home runs, 42 RBIs, a .351 OBP, and a .520 slugging percentage. In 1964, Mincher was one of six Twins to hit at least 20 home runs as he finished with 23 while batting .237 with 56 RBIs, a .300 OBP, and a .547 slugging percentage. Described as an introvert and intense, he again found himself vying for playing time at first base, this time platooning with Bob Allison, who had been shifted from the outfield. Minnesota won the AL pennant in 1965. With Allison back in the outfield, Mincher saw most of the action at first base, splitting time with Harmon Killebrew, who was signifcantly sidelined by an injury. Mincher hit .251 with 17 doubles, 22 home runs, 65 RBIs, a .344 OBP, and a .509 slugging percentage. In the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers he homered in his first at bat, which was one of three hits that he managed for the entire Series that the Dodgers won in seven games. Used regularly at first base in 1966, Mincher’s power production dropped off somewhat to 14 home runs along with 30 doubles, 62 RBIs, a .251 average, a .340 OBP, and a .418 slugging percentage. In the offseason he was traded to the California Angels as part of the package for RHP Dean Chance. He filled a need at first base for the Angels in 1967 and had his first ever All-Star season while hitting .273 with 23 doubles, 25 home runs, 76 RBIs, a .367 OBP, and a .487 slugging percentage. Trouble struck in the second game of the 1968 season when Mincher was beaned by a pitch from Cleveland’s fireballing LHP Sam McDowell. He was bothered by dizziness and headaches for long after the beaning and his batting dropped off to .236 with 12 doubles, 13 home runs, 48 RBIs, a .312 OBP, and a .368 slugging percentage. Having lost the confidence of Angels manager Bill Rigney, he was left unprotected for the AL expansion draft in the offseason and was taken by the Pilots with their first overall pick.

1969 Season Summary

Appeared in 140 games

1B – 122, PH – 19

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 514

At Bats – 427

Runs – 53

Hits – 105

Doubles – 14

Triples – 0

Home Runs – 25 [16, tied with Jim Northrup & Reggie Smith]

RBI – 78

Bases on Balls – 78 [16]

Int. BB – 13 [4, tied with Rico Petrocelli]

Strikeouts – 69

Stolen Bases – 10

Caught Stealing – 11 [10]

Average - .246

OBP - .366 [15]

Slugging Pct. - .454 [19, tied with Bobby Murcer]

Total Bases – 194

GDP – 8

Hit by Pitches – 5 [17, tied with thirteen others]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 3

Midseason snapshot: HR – 17, RBI – 51, AVG – .240, SLG – .455, OBP – .361

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Most hits, game – 3 (in 4 AB) at KC Royals 7/6, (in 3 AB) vs. Baltimore 8/17, (in 4 AB) vs. Minnesota 9/28

Longest hitting streak – 7 games

HR at home – 13

HR on road – 12

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 4 AB) at KC Royals 7/6

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 4 at KC Royals 7/6, at Cleveland 8/11

Pinch-hitting – 2 for 9 (.222) with 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI & 7 BB

Fielding

Chances – 1132

Put Outs – 1033

Assists – 93

Errors – 6

DP – 98

Pct. - .995

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

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In their inaugural season, the Pilots went 64-98 to finish sixth (last) in the AL Western Division, 33 games behind the division-winning Minnesota Twins while leading the league in stolen bases (167) and batting strikeouts (1015). Underfinanced and playing in decrepit Sicks Stadium, where they still managed to draw 677,944 fans, the Pilots were surprisingly competitive until a 10-game August losing streak dropped the injury-riddled club into the AL West cellar. In the offseason they were bought by a Milwaukee group and relocated.

Aftermath of 1969:

Following his fine comeback season in 1969 with the lowly Pilots, Mincher was traded to the Oakland Athletics in the offseason along with infielder Ron Clark for four players. He had a solid season for the A’s in 1970, hitting .246 with 27 home runs, 74 RBIs, a .327 OBP, and a .460 slugging percentage. Early during the 1971 season Mincher was dealt again, this time to the Washington Senators along with two other players for first baseman Mike Epstein and reliever Darold Knowles. For the year he batted .280 with 21 doubles, 12 home runs, 53 RBIs, a .386 OBP, and a .427 slugging percentage. The franchise shifted to Arlington, Texas in 1972 and was renamed the Texas Rangers. Mincher was hitting .236 with 6 home runs and 39 RBIs when he was traded back to Oakland in July. Backing up at first base and pinch-hitting as the A’s headed for the AL West title, Mincher batted .148 with a .281 OBP and no homers. He made two postseason plate appearances as Oakland advanced to winning a World Series title. He retired after the season and for his major league career he batted .249 with 1003 hits that included 176 doubles, 16 triples, and 200 home runs. He scored 530 runs and compiled 643 RBIs, a .348 OBP, and a .450 slugging percentage. Appearing in 11 postseason games he hit .160 with one home run and 2 RBIs. He was a two-time All-Star. Mincher operated a sporting goods store until returning to baseball in 1985 as general manager of the Huntsville Stars of the Southern League. He helped to keep the team in Huntsville and he later became president of the Southern League. Mincher was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, four years before his death in 2012 at age 73.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20), pitching wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10), or have been participants in the annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category will also include Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.