Blake Doyle

Blake R. Doyle

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 160 lb.
• High School Caverna High School

• Born January 26, 1954 in Glasgow, KY USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

The brother of Denny Doyle and twin brother of Brian Doyle, Blake Doyle played nine years in the minors, four of them at AAA. Along with his brothers, he later opened the Doyle Baseball School in Winter Haven, FL. The Doyle Baseball school is currently held in Lakeland, FL. Blake and his brother Denny hold many camps throughout the year in Lakeland.

A 4th-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1972 amateur draft, Doyle debuted with the Bluefield Orioles that year. He hit .300/.364/.364 and was 10th in the Appalachian League in average. He stole 20 bases while only getting caught four times, leading the Appy League in steals. He and Michael Markl split the league All-Star team votes at second base.

In 1973, Blake hit .258/.320/.284 in 69 games for the Lodi Orioles and .235/.342/.255 in 39 games with the Miami Orioles. He only stole 3 bases in 7 tries that year, a far cry from his rookie year. In 1974, Doyle returned to Lodi and led California League second basemen in fielding percentage (.961) and led the league in sacrifice hits (9). He batted .276/.315/.306 and stole 16 bases, but was caught 13 times.

For the 1975 Asheville Orioles, the 4th-year player hit .260/.319/.316. With the Charlotte O's in 1976, Doyle improved to .299/.335/.353. He led the Southern League with 158 hits and finished fourth in batting average. He made the SL All-Star team at second base.

Doyle began his run at AAA in 1977, with the Rochester Red Wings; Brian and Blake were a quarter of the International League's starting second basemen that year as Brian was with the Syracuse Chiefs. Blake hit .234/.278/.291 in 117 games; he only hit one homer, had one steal, drew 23 walks, scored 39 and drove in 36 as his overall offensive game was weak that year.

In 1978, Doyle batted .280/.334/.345 for Rochester, showing significant improvement. He broke his arm in a home plate collision, though, and went to spend time helping out twin brother Brian in caring for Brian's new daughter. Roy White convinced Blake to play a practical joke on the Yankee front office by walking into the clubhouse with his arm in a cast. The ruse fooled manager Billy Martin and GM Al Rosen before Brian came into Martin's office to let them in on the trick. Yogi Berra was the only one in the Yankee administration who said he knew it wasn't Brian.

In his 7th year in the Baltimore system, he hit .260/.338/.336 in 39 games; Brian also played 39 games in the IL that year. Blake moved to the Indianapolis Indians in 1980 and concluded his career by hitting .248/.287/.322 in 106 games.

He and his brothers ran the Doyle Baseball school and camps starting in 1978; their products included Raul Ibanez and Charles Johnson.

In 2014, he was appointed hitting coach of the Colorado Rockies, returning to pro baseball after a 33-year hiatus. His stint lasted until the end of manager Walt Weiss's tenure, at the end of the 2016 season.

Sources: 1973-1981 Baseball Guides, Mendoza's Heroes by Al Pepper, Denver Post