Don Buddin
From BR Bullpen
Donald Thomas Buddin
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 178 lb.
- School Wofford College
- Debut April 17, 1956
- Final Game September 25, 1962
- Born May 5, 1934 in Turbeville, SC USA
[edit] Biographical Information
A High School All-American in football, Don Buddin turned down scholarship offers from the University of South Carolina and Clemson University to sign as an amateur free agent with the Boston Red Sox before the 1952 season.
The 18-year-old shortstop was sent to the class B Roanoke Ro-Sox, where he got into 69 games and hit at a .252 clip. He hit .300 for the Greensboro Patriots while leading the Carolina League in RBIs with 123 in 1953, then helped lead the Louisville Colonels to the Little World Series in 1955.
Buddin became the everyday shortstop for the Red Sox in 1956. He was often the target of the Fenway faithful with his .241 career batting average and sometimes erratic defensive play. But it was all cheering on July 11, 1959, when his tenth-inning grand slam homer gave the Red Sox an 8-4 win over the New York Yankees.
Don would be with the Boston club until they traded him to the Houston Colt .45s for Eddie Bressoud on November 26, 1961. He would be with Houston until July 20, 1962 at which time he was sold to the Detroit Tigers. This would be his final year in the major leagues.
Don would spend three more seasons in AAA ball finishing his baseball career with the Knoxville Smokies in 1965. Don would spend 13 active seasons in professional baseball from 1952 through 1965. He was in the United States Military Service, serving in Korea, in 1957.
Buddin attended Wofford College in South Carolina in the off season. As of this writing (December 2008), resides in Fountain Inn, a few miles SE of Greenville, SC. He has managed a liquor store, sold insurance and been the general manager of a local newspaper.
Career Batting Statistics
| League | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | AVG | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minors | 860 | 2,975 | 787 | 178 | 24 | 87 | .264 | .402 |
| Majors | 711 | 2,289 | 551 | 123 | 12 | 41 | .241 | .359 |
| Total | 1,571 | 5,264 | 1,338 | 301 | 36 | 128 | .254 | .380 |
[edit] Sources
Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page
[edit] Quotes
"[In the 1970s] there still was a piece of graffiti in the men's room at the Dugout, a Commonwealth Avenue bar, that read 'Don Buddin lives! There is a little bit of him in all of us.'" -- Leigh Montville, Ted Williams (NY: Doubleday, 2004): 196.
