Rick Auerbach

Frederick Steven Auerbach

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.
• School Mesa Community College, Pierce College
• High School William Howard Taft High School (Woodland Hills)
• Debut April 13, 1971
• Final Game August 12, 1981
• Born February 15, 1950 in Woodland Hills, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Shortstop Rick Auerbach played eleven seasons in the major leagues for four different teams. While his lifetime batting average is only .220, it is a bit misleading; he hit over .300 several times, especially once he began pinch-hitting.

Auerbach's only year with over 250 at-bats was in 1972, when he appeared in 153 games at shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers at age 22. The only younger position player on the team was Darrell Porter, at age 20, but Porter appeared in only 18 games. Auerbach hit .218 in 1972, on a team that hit .235 during the second dead-ball era. He had good speed, as his 24 stolen bases were 7th-best in the American League. When he came to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, he hit .342 in 45 games and appeared once in the 1974 World Series. From 1977 to 1980 Auerbach was with the Cincinnati Reds, in the waning days of the Big Red Machine. He hit .327 in 1978 and .333 in 1980, both times getting fewer than 60 at-bats. He finished his career in 1981 with the Seattle Mariners.

Auerbach went to Taft High School, as did Robin Yount. When Yount broke in with the Brewers in 1974, Auerbach had moved on to the Dodgers. Rick and Doug DeCinces played infield together while at Pierce College.