Former All-Star third baseman Don Wert handed away at age 86, the Tigers introduced this afternoon. Wert performed all however 20 video games of his MLB profession with Detroit.
Wert signed with the Tigers at age 19 out of Pennsylvania’s Franklin & Marshall School. The suitable-handed hitting infielder spent 5 years within the minors, together with two full seasons at Triple-A. He earned his first massive league name in 1963 and established himself as Detroit’s beginning third baseman the following yr.
After enjoying in 148 video games throughout his first full MLB season, Wert began all 162 contests in 1965. He hit .261 with 12 homers and extra walks than strikeouts in almost 700 plate appearances. Wert was charged with solely 12 errors regardless of logging greater than 1400 innings on the scorching nook. Award voters rewarded his sturdiness and strong all-around recreation with a Tenth-place end in AL MVP balloting.
Wert was a dependable and constant presence within the Detroit infield for the rest of the last decade. He made an All-Star group in 1968, though his .200/.258/.299 slash line that yr was certainly one of his least productive showings. A June hit-by-pitch that broke his helmet and required a stint within the hospital certainly contributed to his offensive downturn. Wert remained a beneficial defensive participant and appeared in 150 video games on a Tigers group that received 103 video games to assert the AL pennant.
Detroit knocked off the Cardinals in a seven-game World Sequence. Wert performed in six of these contests. He went 2-17 however drew six walks and drove in a pair of runs. The latter RBI got here with two outs within the high of the ninth within the deciding recreation. He singled off Bob Gibson to push Detroit’s result in 4-0; they held on to win by a 4-1 margin.
After the 1970 season, the Tigers traded Wert to the Washington Senators as a part of an eight-player deal that additionally shipped out two-time Cy Younger winner Denny McLain. Wert spent a pair months with Washington earlier than being launched in June, ending his enjoying profession. He retired with a .242/.314/.343 line in additional than 1100 video games over elements of 9 seasons. Wert performed almost 9000 innings at third base, the place he had a .968 fielding share. MLBTR sends our condolences to his household, buddies and family members.
