Doug Rader played everything while growing up in Illinois and continued basketball and baseball his two
years at Illinois
Wesleyan University
in ’64 and ’65. He also played semi-pro hockey the same time under a couple
assumed names. And did a little boxing. When he was signed by the Astros in ’65
to a $25,000 bonus part of the stipulation was that he give up the hockey. Up
until his pro career a shortstop, Doug switched to third base his first year
because Sonny Jackson was ahead of him. He hit .209 that summer, almost
lost his life over the winter while playing ball in Nicaragua, and moved in ’66 to
Double A where he hit .290 with 16 homers and 74 RBI’s. After starting the
season in Triple A in ’67 and hitting .293 with escalated power, he made his debut
for Houston
that July.
Rader hit .333 the rest of the ’67 season up top where he
garnered some starting time at first base with four other guys. Bob Aspromonte
was the regular guy at third then so Doug settled in sort of slowly. In a tough
’68 he hit .267 and started just over half the games at third. After that
season Aspromonte went to Atlanta
and Doug got the third base gig solo and really didn’t disappoint. Outside of ’71,
when nagging injuries limited his time a bit, he averaged 20 homers and 86
RBI’s while he was the club’s regular guy and won Gold Gloves every season from
’70 to ’74. That last season his numbers were pretty much on par with his '73 ones. Then in ’75 Doug’s offense departed and he would lose some starting
time to Enos Cabell, who came over from Baltimore in the Lee May trade. Cabell
would take over the position the next year after Doug was traded to San Diego for pitchers
Larry Hardy and Joe McIntosh. He got the starting gig there after the Padres
gave up on Dave Roberts and improved his average by 30 points but with still
diminished power. After a pretty good start to the ’77 season he was sold that
June to the new Blue Jays where he upped his homer totals but his other stats
came in. He would be released during ’78 spring training and that ended his
time as a player. Doug hit .251 with 155 homers and 722 RBI’s. He ranks in the
top 50 third baseman in all-time assists and in the top 100 in putouts and
fielding average.
After a year off from baseball Rader returned in ’79 as a
Padres coach. He then moved to manage their Triple A Hawaii club from ’80 to ’82, going
a combined 219-201 at that level. He then moved to Texas where he managed the Rangers from ’83
through two-thirds of the ’85 season when he was replaced by Bobby Valentine.
Then it was back home to Chicago
where he coached the White Sox from ’86 to ’87 and managed a couple games. In
’88 he moved to the Angels system as a scout and was then promoted to manage
the big club the following year which he did through ’91. He then was the
Oakland hitting coach in ’92, helping to turn around a slumping Mark McGwire,
and moved on to the same position for Florida from ’93 to ’94. He then did
another go-round as a coach for the White Sox from ’96 to ’97 before he
resigned. He accused team owner Eddie Einhorn of betting on games which
probably killed his ability to get hired anywhere as a coach again. But Doug
didn’t seem to care as he has been pretty much happily retired in Florida since then. As a
major league manager he went 388-417 lifetime.
Doug pretty much pulls off the defensive triple crown in ‘70
and does a neat job in his next full season as well. He has one of the best
all-time nicknames.
These two guys were foes in the NL West for a bunch of years
but the best way to get them together is through the AL:
1. Rader and Pete Vuckovich ’77 Blue Jays;
2. Vuckovich and Jorge Orta ’76 White Sox.
3. Orta and Ken Henderson ’73 to ’75 White Sox.
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