In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

202 Chapter 42. Don Werner Malcolm Allen Don Werner played eighteen seasons of professional baseball and appeared in 118 Major League games, backing up one Hall of Famer and catching the only no-hitter pitched by another. Though he batted just .176 during limited opportunities in the Major Leagues, Werner grasped enough of the finer points of the art of catching to stay employed in the game for more than two decades when his playing days ended, passing on what he’d learned to younger players. Donald Paul Werner was born on March 8, 1953, in Appleton, Wisconsin. His father played softball, and Werner tagged along as a youngster, serving as the team’s batboy and generally soaking up the game. Even when his dad was dead tired, Werner recalled, he would summon the energy to throw or hit the ball to his young son. Werner wasn’t certain that his mother particularly cared for baseball , but she always supported his interest in the game and attended all his games when he started playing himself. Werner grew up rooting for the Chicago Cubs, especially their classy All-Star shortstop Ernie Banks. As Werner developed into a full-time catcher on the diamond, he looked up to Cubs backstop Randy Hundley, Tim McCarver of the Cardinals, and later , Reds standout Johnny Bench. Scouts took note of Werner’s strong throwing arm when they saw him playing American Legion ball as a teen, and he was an All-State and All-City selection for baseball (as well as All-City for basketball) by 1971, when he graduated from Appleton East High School. He wanted to get drafted and play professional baseball , and his dream came true when Bench’s Cincinnati Reds selected him in the fifth round of the amateur draft that June. Through 2012, Werner remained the only big leaguer to come out of his high school. Werner signed quickly and debuted with the Bradenton (Florida) Reds of the Gulf Coast Rookie League that summer, batting .333 in ten games. He slipped to .172 in thirty-six contests with the Single -A Tampa Tarpons after a promotion, but gained valuable experience playing with more than a halfdozen future big leaguers under Manager Russ Nixon , who himself had been a big league catcher for age g ab r h 2b 3b hr tb rbi bb so bav obp slg sb gdp hbp 22 7 8 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .125 .222 .125 0 0 1 Don Werner had the misfortune of breaking into the Majors as a catcher with the Reds during the prime of Johnny Bench but managed to stay in the game for another four decades. don werner 203 more than a decade. Back with Tampa in 1972, Werner earned Florida State League All-Star honors after batting .257 with a .352 on-base percentage and leading the circuit’s catchers in fielding percentage. He also connected on his first professional home run. Moving up to Double-A in 1973 proved challenging for the twenty-year-old, and Werner hit just .201 for the Trois-Rivieres (Quebec) Aigles of the Eastern League. The following year the Reds returned him to Tampa, where, despite a .232 average , he walked more than he struck out and established professional bests up to that point in doubles, runs scored, and rbis. Werner also earned his first defensive mention in the Sporting News for making a barehanded catch of a foul pop-up in the season opener after tossing away his mask and glove while in pursuit. Werner was invited to Major League spring training with the Reds in 1975 before heading to the Triple -A Indianapolis Indians to platoon with Minor League veteran Sonny Ruberto. Playing for another former catcher, Vern Rapp, Werner thrived offensively to the tune of a .281 batting average, .397 onbase percentage, and .491 slugging average, showing the power within his 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame with nine homers in 228 at bats. The Reds brought him to the big leagues in September, and he was hit by a pitch from the San Diego Padres’ Dave Freisleben as a pinch hitter in his debut. Werner got his first start in the second game of a doubleheader on September 14 at Candlestick Park and delivered his first Major League hit, a single off Giants right-hander Greg Minton. Though Werner got just eight at bats in seven games that month, the Reds voted him a...

Share