Ed Brinkman
| Ed Brinkman | |||
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| Shortstop | |||
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Born: December 8, 1941 Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Died: September 30, 2008 (aged 66) Cincinnati, Ohio |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 6, 1961, for the Washington Senators | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 28, 1975, for the New York Yankees | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .224 | ||
| Home runs | 60 | ||
| Runs batted in | 461 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Edwin Albert Brinkman (December 8, 1941 – September 30, 2008) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop, most notably for the Washington Senators and the Detroit Tigers. Brinkman 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 named to the American League All-Star team in 1973.
Brinkman was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Western Hills High School, where he played alongside Pete Rose on the school's baseball team.Paul "Pappy" Nohr, the baseball coach at Western Hills, described Rose as "a good ball player, not a Brinkman." Based on their performance in high school, scouts saw Brinkman rather than Rose as the future superstar. When he was a senior, Brinkman batted .460 and also won 15 games as a pitcher including a perfect game. 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." He was signed in 1961 as an amateur free agent by the Washington Senators.
Brinkman began the 1961 season playing in the minor leagues before making his major league debut with the Senators on September 6, 1961 at the age of 19. Although Brinkman was known as a good defensive player, he seldom provided much of an offensive contribution for a Senators team that routinely finished near the bottom of the final standings. His best batting average in the first eight years of his career was a .229 average posted in 1966 when he led American League shortstops with a 3.3 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). In 1969, Ted Williams was named as the Senators' manager and, he worked to improve Brinkman's hitting skills. Brinkman responded with a career-high .266 batting average as well as 71 runs scored, also a career-high. Brinkman once again led the league's shortstops with a 3.3 WAR. Brinkman continued to improve in 1970 with a career-high 162 hits in 152 games. He also led the league's shortstops in assists and in putouts.
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