Don Jacoby

Donald C. Jacoby

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.

• School Ramapo College of New Jersey

• Born ~1959

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Don Jacoby was a minor league infielder for five years.

Jacoby was the NCAA Division III All-American first baseman in 1980. He began his professional career with the 1981 Gastonia Cardinals, hitting .250/.354/.404 and fielding .956 at 2B (his main position). In 1982, Jacoby starred for the independent Utica Blue Sox, batting .350/.453/.580. Had he qualified (he had 170 plate appearances when 205 were needed), he would have led the New York-Penn League in average and OBP. Back with Utica in '83, he had a monster year - .386/.442/.680, 22 HR, 67 R, 74 RBI in 70 games. He led the NYPL in homers, RBI, runs (tied with Barry Moss), hits (105), total bases (185) and slugging. He lost the batting race by .001 to George Chadwick to cost himself a Triple Crown and was third in OBP (behind Moss and Keith Mucha). He was named the All-Star DH and the Blue Sox won the title.

In 1984, Don got a second look from a MLB organization. He played 26 games for the Baltimore Orioles' Hagerstown Suns affiliate but struggled (12 for 78, HR, 3 BB). He played for another independent team, the San Jose Bees but fared poorly there as well (.184/.234/.221 in 38 G). Back with Utica for the NYPL season, though, he kept rolling - .350/.429/.655, 16 HR, 49 R, 53 RBI in 55 games. He finished second to Randall Riley in average, second to Riley in OBP, led in slugging and tied for fourth in home runs (3 back of leader Bernardo Brito). He failed to win All-Star honors at 2B; those went to Paul Daddario, who had lesser offensive but better defensive statistics.

He appeared for one more independent club, the 1985 Miami Marlins, but again failed to duplicate his Utica success, batting .213/.279/.303.

Sources include 1982-1985 Baseball Guides