Ed Brinkman
| Ed Brinkman | |
|---|---|
| Shortstop | |
| Born: December 8, 1941 Cincinnati, Ohio |
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| Died: September 30, 2008 (aged 66) Cincinnati, Ohio |
|
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 6, 1961 for the Washington Senators | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 28, 1975 for the New York Yankees | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .224 |
| Hits | 1,355 |
| Runs batted in | 461 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Edwin Albert Brinkman (December 8, 1941 – September 30, 2008) was a Major League Baseball shortstop. He played fifteen years in the Major League Baseball, led the American League in games played twice, won a Gold Glove Award at shortstop, and had a career batting average of .224. He was also named to the American League All-Star team in 1973.
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Youth in Cincinnati [edit]
Brinkman was a high school teammate of Pete Rose at Cincinnati's Western Hills High School. Paul "Pappy" Nohr, the baseball coach at Western Hills, described Rose as "a good ball player, not a Brinkman." (David M. Jordan, "Pete Rose: A Biography," p. 6)[1] Based on their performance in high school, scouts saw Brinkman rather than Rose as the future superstar. When he was a senior, Ed batted .460 and also won 15 games as a pitcher.[1] Brinkman was paid a large (for the time) bonus of $75,000 by the Washington Senators in 1959. Brinkman later said: "Pete always kidded me that the Washington Senators brought me my bonus in an armored truck. Pete said he had cashed his at the corner store." (David M. Jordan, "Pete Rose: A Biography," p. 7)[2]
According to retrosheet site, he was signed in 1961 as an amateur free agent by the Washington Senators, which would have been the expansion team; the team that was the Washington Senators in 1959 moved to Minnesota during the 1960-1961 offseason.
Major league playing career [edit]
He played with the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees during his fifteen year playing career. Ed Brinkman led the American League in games played twice, won a Gold Glove Award at shortstop, and had a career batting average of .224.
Brinkman was part of an eight-player trade in 1971, which sent Brinkman, third baseman Aurelio Rodríguez and pitchers Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan from the Washington Senators to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Denny McLain, Don Wert, Elliott Maddox, and Norm McRae.
In 1972, he won the "Tiger of the Year" award from the Detroit baseball writers,[2] and finished 9th in American League MVP voting despite a .205 batting average. Brinkman earned the votes for his defensive prowess. Brinkman was awarded the Gold Glove in 1972 with a fielding percentage of .990 (23 points above the .967 league average for shortstops). In 1972, Brinkman also had 233 putouts and 495 assists in 156 games at shortstop. On August 5, 1972, Brinkman's error ended his record streak of 72 games and 331 total chances without a miscue.
He has the record for the number of seasons (seven) with more than 400 at-bats, fewer than 15 home runs, and a batting average lower than .230. Since 1930 only one player with 5000+ at-bats has a lower average. Brinkman's batting average would have been even worse if it were not for Ted Williams. Brinkman hit .266 and .262 in 1969 and 1970 while playing for Washington Senators teams managed by Williams. Excluding those two seasons, Brinkman's lifetime average was .214. He committed a then-record low seven errors in 156 games for the division-winning Tigers in 1972. Even with a .203 average, Brinkman was hailed as one of the team's most valuable players, and he won a Gold Glove that season. Brinkman holds the American League record for the fewest hits in a season while playing a minimum of 150 games, with 82 hits in 1965.[3]
Coaching career [edit]
Brinkman was a coach and scout with the Chicago White Sox for 18 years from 1983-2000. He was the team's infield coach (1983–1988) and later became a special assignment scout. He retired after the 2000 season.[4]
Brinkman died on September 30, 2008 due to complications from lung cancer.[5]
Notes [edit]
- ^ 1966 Topps #251
- ^ http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/det/history/awards.jsp
- ^ "Single Season Hits Records". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-080930-chicago-white-sox-tampa-bay-rays,0,1712329.story
|url=missing title (help). - ^ Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-01-white-sox-bits-chicagooct01,0,5328300.story
|url=missing title (help).
Sources [edit]
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- BR Bullpen
- William A. Cook, "Pete Rose: Baseball All-Time Hit King"[3]
- BaseballLibrary.com
- David M. Jordan, "Pete Rose: A Biography" (Greenwood Press 2004) [4]
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- 1941 births
- 2008 deaths
- Deaths from lung cancer
- Cincinnati Bearcats baseball players
- Major League Baseball shortstops
- Washington Senators (1961–1971) players
- Detroit Tigers players
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- Texas Rangers players
- New York Yankees players
- Middlesboro Senators players
- Birmingham Barons managers
- Pensacola Senators players
- American League All-Stars
- Gold Glove Award winners
- People from Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cancer deaths in Ohio
- American people of Dutch descent
- Detroit Tigers coaches
- Chicago White Sox coaches
- San Diego Padres coaches
- Sportspeople from Cincinnati, Ohio
- Baseball players from Ohio
