Dan Dobbek

Daniel John Dobbek

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 195 lb.
• School Western Michigan College
• High School Ontonagon High School
• Debut September 9, 1959
• Final Game October 1, 1961
• Born December 6, 1934 in Ontonagon, MI USA
• Died November 28, 2023 in Portland, OR USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Before the 1955 season, Dan Dobbek was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent. Scouts in the Washington organization were touting Dobbek as a potential power hitter in the mold of Harmon Killebrew when he came up to the Senators in 1959 after hitting 23 home runs for the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The lefthanded-hitting outfielder out of Western Michigan University hit 10 homers in 110 games in 1960 but was last seen in the majors with the Minnesota Twins in 1961, after the Senators' relocation, finishing with a .208 average and 15 home runs in 198 games overall. On January 30, 1962 the Twins traded Dobbek to the Cincinnati Reds for Jerry Zimmerman, but he never played for the Reds.

A serious shoulder injury he sustained crashing into an outfield wall in Kansas City set back his career. The Boston Red Sox didn't want to pitch to Dan on April 22, 1960, as he tied a major league record when he received three intentional bases-on-balls in one game.

Dan spent the rest of his pro baseball career in the minors and finished up with the AA Macon Peaches in 1963. He had been in pro baseball from 1956 through 1963. He appeared in 515 games in the minors, hitting 65 home runs and ending up with a .269 batting average.

Dobbek later resided in Portland, OR where he was employed with a laundry company.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page