Don Wert obit

Don Wert, Detroit Tigers All-Star third baseman on 1968 World Series team, dies at 86

 

He was not on the list.

Former Detroit Tigers All-Star and starting third baseman for the 1968 World Series winning team Don Wert has died at the age of 86.

The Tigers announced his passing on social media late Monday morning.

"The Tigers mourn the passing of former player Don Wert and share our condolences with his loved ones," the team said on social media.

Wert made his MLB debut with the Tigers in 1963 when he was 24 and went on to play eight seasons with the Tigers before finishing his career with one year with the then Washington Senators.

In 1965, Wert's third year with the Tigers, the third baseman slashed .261/.341/.363 and finished 10th in the American League MVP voting. Although he wasn't as productive at the plate as he was in the years prior, Wert was named to the 1968 All-Star team.

Tigers fans will mostly remember Wert for being part of the 1968 World Series winning team, but over his prodcutive career he hit .246 with 77 home runs and an on-base percentage of .315. He was nicknamed the Coyote.
Wert was born in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, in Lancaster County on July 29, 1938. He attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he played baseball for the Diplomats. He was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1958 and played several years in the minor leagues.

On June 24, 1968, during a game in which Jim Northrup hit two grand slams, Wert was struck in the head by a pitch from Hal Kurtz of the Cleveland Indians. The pitch split Wert's batting helmet.[10] He was carried off on a stretcher, spent two nights in the hospital, missed several games, and was never the same hitter again.

Despite his low average, Wert was selected to the roster of the 1968 American League All Star Team by American League manager Dick Williams and doubled off Tom Seaver in the eighth inning, but was stranded in a 1-0 loss. He recorded a ninth inning, game-winning hit on September 17 to clinch the American League pennant.  Wert also singled in Detroit's final run of the 1968 World Series, driving in Dick Tracewski with two out in the top of the ninth inning in St. Louis, completing the Tigers' comeback to top the defending Series champs, 4-1, winning the series, 4 games to 3.

On July 15, 1969, with President Richard Nixon attending the game in Washington, Wert started a triple play on a ground ball hit by Ed Brinkman. On July 9, 1970, Wert was involved in a bizarre play when Dalton Jones hit a fly ball into the upper deck with the bases loaded. What should have been a grand slam ended up being three-RBI single, as Jones passed Wert between first and second base. Jones was called out. Jones later blamed Wert, noting that Wert should have been halfway to second base, prepared to advance if it was a home run, and prepared to return to first if it was caught. Instead, Jones recalled that Wert was returning to first to tag up, and Jones passed Wert one or two steps past first base.

On October 9, 1970, the Tigers traded Wert and Denny McLain to the Washington Senators in an eight-player deal that brought Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodríguez, and Joe Coleman to the Tigers. Wert played 20 games for the Senators in 1971. He was batting .050 (two hits in 40 at bats) when he was released on June 24, 1971.

Over nine seasons in the major leagues, Wert played in 1,100 games and had a .242 batting average, 929 hits, 417 runs scored, 389 walks, 366 runs batted in, 129 doubles, and 77 home runs. Wert played 1,043 of his games at third base and collected 914 putouts, 1,987 assists, and 173 double plays.

In the minors he played for the Valdosta Tigers, Durham Bulls, Denver Bears, and Syracuse Chiefs.