Don Wallace

Donald Allen Wallace

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 165 lb.
• School Oklahoma State University
• High School Sapulpa High School
• Debut April 12, 1967
• Final Game June 3, 1967
• Born August 25, 1940 in Sapulpa, OK USA

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Biographical Information

Don Wallace was born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where his father owned a service station. He attended Oklahoma State University and made it to the 1961 College World Series, playing shortstop with the team that made it all the way to the final only to lose 1-0 to the University of Southern California. He was named to the All-Tournament Team and was a third-team All-American in both his junior and senior years. He graduated in 1962 and signed with the Baltimore Orioles.

Wallace started out his minor league career with a bang with the Aberdeen Pheasants of the Northern League in 1962. He won the league's batting title, hitting .325, and drew 76 walks in 89 games to top it off. The St. Louis Cardinals then claimed him in the 1962 First-year player draft, but he failed to make the team in spring training and was returned to the Orioles. He played for the Elmira Pioneers of the Eastern League in 1963, splitting his time between shortstop and second base. In 130 games, he hit .299 with an on-base percentage over .400, 85 walks and 74 runs scored. That got him named to the league All-Star team, and this time it was the New York Yankees who drafted him in the minor league phase of the 1963 Rule V Draft. He played with the Yankees' AAA affiliates for the next two years, first with the Richmond Virginians in 1964, and then with the Toledo Mud Hens in 1965. However, his average and OBP fell down significantly over the two seasons, to .266 and .244 in the case of his BA, and .350 and .328 for his OBP. He played at shortstop practically every day during those two years, and was a fine defensive player. He bounced back in 1966, when assigned to the Seattle Angels of the Pacific Coast League. He was the team MVP as Seattle won a league championship. He hit .284 with a .365 OBP and fielded extremely well, although by now he exhibited almost no power: he had only 18 extra-base hits in 108 games, scored only 47 runs and was 8 for 15 on the basepaths.

Still, Wallace had shown enough in the minor leagues to finally earn a shot at the big leagues. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 1966 Rule V Draft and made the roster to begin the 1967 season. He got into 23 games, 14 of them as a pinch-runner. However, his lack of hitting prowess limited his usefulness - he was hitless in 6 at-bats but did draw 3 walks. He started only one game, at second base. On June 5th, he was sent down to the minor leagues, returning to Seattle where he slumped to .245. At the end of the year, he was sent to the New York Mets as the player to be named later in a deal that had brought Hawk Taylor to the Angels. He played one more season, for the Jacksonville Suns of the International League, where he hit .257 in 28 games in 1968.

With his baseball career stalling, Don Wallace had obtained a master's degree in education and was teaching high school in Kansas City, MO in the off-seasons. In 1967, he was named assistant principal, and in his last minor league season, he could not join his team until June, waiting for the school year to end. He became a full-time teacher after retiring from the game. According to a relative, he later became a school principal in Colorado, while traveling extensively in Asia on church missions.

Further Reading

• Clifford Blau: "Leg Men: Career Pinch-Runners in Major League Baseball", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 38, Number 1 (Summer 2009), pp. 70-81.