Rich Dauer obit

Rich Dauer, Orioles Hall of Famer and former Astros coach, dies at 72

Dauer helped Baltimore win the World Series in 1983

He was not on the list.

The Baltimore Orioles have announced the death of Rich Dauer, a former big-league infielder and coach who was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in 2012. Dauer, 72, was roughly two years removed from suffering a massive stroke.

Dauer spent all 10 of his seasons as a player with the Orioles. He hit .257/.310/.343 for his career, compiling 43 home runs and six stolen bases along the way. Dauer played in two World Series with the Orioles, appearing in all five games as part of the club's championship victory in 1983 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Said title ensured Dauer a special place in baseball history, as he became one of the few players to win both an MLB and a College World Series championship. He'd previously won two CWS at Southern Cal.

Dauer later transitioned to coaching, filling various roles for five different teams. Most notably, he served as the Houston Astros' first-base coach from 2015-17. Dauer, perhaps infamously, required emergency brain surgery to repair a subdural hematoma that almost killed him during the Astros' 2017 World Series championship parade.

In addition to all of Dauer's actual baseball accomplishments, he also appeared as a coach in the 1988 movie Stealing Home that starred Mark Harmon, Jodie Foster, and Harold Ramis, among others.

He was primarily a second baseman and also played third base. Following his career as a player, he spent 19 seasons as an MLB coach for numerous teams, winning the World Series in 2017 as the first base coach for the Houston Astros. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012.

Born on July 27, 1952, in San Bernardino, California, Dauer graduated from Colton High School in Colton, California, in 1970. He played college baseball for the Indians of San Bernardino Valley College and transferred to the University of Southern California (USC), where he was an All-American at third base. He helped the USC Trojans win the College World Series in 1973 and 1974, USC's fifth consecutive title and sixth in seven years.

Selected in the first round of the 1974 MLB draft in early June, Dauer was the 24th overall pick and began his pro career in the Single-A South Atlantic League with the Asheville Tourists. He moved up to the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League (IL) late in the 1975 season. The following season with the Red Wings, he won the league batting title with a .336 average, was named Rookie of the Year and shared Most Valuable Player honors with Mickey Klutts and Joe Lis.[8] He was called up by the Orioles that year and struggled, getting only four hits in 39 at bats.

Dauer's struggles continued at the start of 1977, as he had just one hit in his first 41 at bats. He began the year as the Orioles' starting second baseman but lost the role to Billy Smith. He credited Brooks Robinson and Lee May with helping him out, saying, "You can't make it in the Majors by yourself. By the end of the year, he had regained the second base job from Smith. He batted .243 with 74 hits, 15 doubles, five home runs, and 25 RBIs in 96 games while compiling a .982 fielding percentage at second base.

Dauer played in the 1979 postseason. The Orioles defeated the California Angels in four games in the best-of-five 1979 American League Championship Series to secure the pennant, Baltimore's first since 1971. In the 1979 World Series, the Orioles built a 3–1 lead, then lost the last three games to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dauer's home run in Game 7 provided the O's only run of the game.

Dauer was given the nickname "Wacko" by Jim Palmer because of his sense of humor. During the Orioles' pursuit of the Milwaukee Brewers for the 1982 American League East title, he inspired his teammates with the rallying cry "Let's win one for the Duck" which was based on "Win one for the Gipper" and Earl Weaver's lame duck status as manager because of his impending retirement following the season.

He also played in the 1983 World Series, won by the Orioles over the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. He, along with Todd Cruz and Rick Dempsey, were regularly in the bottom third of the batting order and were affectionately known as "The Three Stooges", a moniker coined by Ken Singleton. Dauer was "Larry", Cruz was "Curly" and Dempsey was "Moe". Dauer's best postseason performance was in the 5–4 Game 4 win when he went 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI, including the one which accounted for the margin of victory.

Dauer holds two American League single season fielding records for a second baseman, including 86 consecutive errorless games and 425 straight errorless chances, both set in 1978.

Teams

As player

Baltimore Orioles (1976–1985)

As coach

 

Cleveland Indians (1990–1991)

Kansas City Royals (1997–2002)

Milwaukee Brewers (2003–2005)

Colorado Rockies (2009–2012)

Houston Astros (2015–2017)

Career highlights and awards

2× World Series champion (1983, 2017)

Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame