David Doster

David Eric Doster

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.
• School Indiana State University
• High School New Haven (IN) High School
• Debut June 16, 1996
• Final Game October 3, 1999
• Born October 8, 1970 in Fort Wayne, IN USA

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Biographical Information

David Doster was a solid, if unspectacular, infielder who spent most of his career in AAA. A 27th-round draft pick in 1993 by the Philadelphia Phillies, he showed surprising power in the low minors. His league-leading 63 extra-base hits (including a record 39 doubles) in 1995 helped propel the Reading Phillies to the Eastern League championship. In an exhibition game against the parent club, he hit three homers and missed a fourth by just several feet.

The Phillies could not ignore him any longer; he was called up to the majors on June 16, 1996 following an injury to 2B Mickey Morandini. His first career homer was a 10th-inning walk-off shot to beat the Colorado Rockies on June 21. He was sent back down to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in August and played there until the International League season ended. Doster was driving home to Indiana and listening to the Phillies on the radio when he heard that he had been called up again. So he turned around and headed to Philadelphia.

His role was mostly pinch-hitting, but his four hits in the final two games of the season raised his batting average to .267. He played well for the next two years at Scranton, however he would not reach the big leagues again until making the Phillies' roster out of spring training in 1999. He spent the entire season with the Phils, but managed only 19 hits in 97 at-bats. Following another season at Scranton in 2000, the Phillies sold his contract to the Yokohama Bay Stars.

After a year in Japan, he returned to the Phillies' organization in 2002, driving in 91 runs for Scranton and making the IL All-Star team. He moved on to Nashville in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 2003 and Fresno, the San Francisco Giants' top farm team in 2004. Despite putting together a 32-game hitting streak in 2004 (2nd-longest in the Pacific Coast League since Joe DiMaggio's 61), Doster drew little interest that winter. By this time, he was 35 years old and had not played in the major leagues since 1999. He began the 2005 season in Mexico before signing a minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in August. 24 games with Tucson that fall marked the end of his career.

He is a member of the Reading Phillies Hall of Fame and the Northeast Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame.