Butch Wynegar

Harold Delano Wynegar Jr.

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 194 lb.
• High School Red Lion Area Senior High School
• Debut April 9, 1976
• Final Game May 24, 1988
• Born March 14, 1956 in York, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Butch Wynegar was one of the youngest position players to be selected to the All-Star Game when he represented the Minnesota Twins at the age of 20 in the 1976 All-Star Game. A life-long switch-hitter in imitation of one of his idols, Mickey Mantle, he had been converted to catcher in his last year of high school, was selected in the second round of the 1974 amateur draft, then in 1975 had led the Appalachian League in batting average at .346. When he made the All-Star team in his first big league season, in 1976, then was selected as the Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year, he was expected to become a superstar. Instead, he settled into being a solid, but unspectacular player, catching for the Twins, New York Yankees and California Angels before hanging up his spikes in 1988. His first career homer came in storybook fashion: he went deep off Catfish Hunter in the 9th inning of a 4-4 game at Yankee Stadium on April 18th as the Twins went on to defeat the New York Yankees, 5-4.

His best season, apart from his sensational rookie year, was in 1983 with the Yankees when he batted .296 as the team's regular catcher and was behind the plate for Dave Righetti's no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox on July 4th. Though he had little power, his decent batting averages and strong walk rate made him one of the best offensive catchers from 1982-1984 (5th in OPS+, 1st in OBP). He was solid behind the plate, especially after working to improve his throwing - a vital skill in those days when the American League was full of base stealers like Mickey Rivers, Rickey Henderson, Miguel Dilone and Willie Wilson.

After his playing career ended, Wynegar became a minor league manager and was the Texas Rangers roving minor league batting instructor from 1998 to 2002. He joined the Milwaukee Brewers as batting coach in 2003. After the 2006 season, Wynegar moved to the New York Yankees organization. He was hitting coach of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees from 2007 to 2011, Empire State Yankees in 2012, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in 2013-2014. Wynegar moved to the Indianapolis Indians as hitting coach in 2015-2017, then to the Bradenton Marauders in 2018-2019.

Notable Achievements

• 1976 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• 2-time AL All-Star (1976 & 1977)

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1994	Albany Polecats	South Atlantic League	63-74	9th	Baltimore Orioles
1995	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	65-67	6th	Texas Rangers
1996	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	63-76	11th	Texas Rangers
1997	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	68-71	9th	Texas Rangers

Further Reading

• Jim Reisler: "He May Be Fast, but Is He Quick ?: Former Players Talk About Baserunning", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 38, Number 1 (Summer 2009), pp. 88-97.
• Joseph Wancho: "Butch Wynegar: From Single A to the Major League All-Star Game in One Year", in Michael J. Haupert, ed.: Baseball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, The National Pastime, 2024 Edition, pp. 81-83.