Dan Briggs
From BR Bullpen
Daniel Lee Briggs
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.
- High School Sonoma Valley High School
- Debut September 10, 1975
- Final Game July 3, 1982
- Born November 18, 1952 in Scotia, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Dan Briggs was drafted by the California Angels in the 2nd Round (34th overall) of the 1970 amateur draft. He had been named to the Topps High School All-American Team in 1970 and was named Player of the Year for the San Francisco Bay Area that same year.
His career was profiled by Al Pepper in a book entitled Mendoza's Heroes, containing biographies of a number of major leaguers who failed to hit .200 for their career; Briggs' lifetime batting average was .195. He hit his first Major League home run, a 2-run shot off Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals, on September 14, 1975. During his career, he homered off these All-Star pitchers, in addition to Busby: Bill Caudill, Bill Lee, Mike Krukow, Rick Reuschel and Mike Norris.
He led the American Association with 110 RBIs in 1981 while playing for the Denver Bears, a Montreal Expos affiliate. In addition to playing the outfield and first base, he pitched in the minor leagues for Idaho Falls and Quad Cities (California Angels affiliates) with a Won-Loss record of 2-0 and an overall ERA of 1.20; he struck out 36 batters in 30 innings pitched in the minor leagues.
Briggs played in Japan for the Yakult Swallows in 1982 and 1983. There, he led the Central League in hit-by-pitch with 9 in 1983.
After his playing career, he was head coach at Denison University, from 1990 to 1999.
