Donald Lee Blasingame (March 16, 1932 – April 13, 2005), nicknamed "Blazer", was an American professional baseball player. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1955–1959), San Francisco Giants (1960–1961), Cincinnati Reds (1961–1963), Washington Senators (1963–1966), and Kansas City Athletics (1966). Blasingame threw right-handed, batted left-handed and was listed as tall and .
Born and raised in Corinth, Mississippi, Blasingame signed with the Cardinals in 1953 after a stint in the United States Army. He made his debut for the team in September 1955 and took over the second base job from Red Schoendienst in 1956. In 1957, he finished twelfth in National League Most Valuable Player Award voting, and he reached his only All-Star Game in 1958. He played one more season for the Cardinals in 1959 before getting traded to the Giants. With San Francisco, Blasingame's batting average was significantly lower than it had been with St. Louis, and he lost the second base job in 1961, then was traded early in the season to the Reds. He made it to the World Series with the Reds during his first year and batted .281 for them in 1962. In 1963, he lost the second base role to Pete Rose and was traded to the Senators midseason. Blasingame served as Washington's second baseman until 1966, platooned with Chuck Cottier for the first half of that year, then went to the Athletics and spent a month with them as a pinch hitter to finish his major league career.
After that, Blasingame went to Japan. He spent three seasons playing with the Nankai Hawks, then coached the team for several years. From 1979 to 1980, he managed the Hanshin Tigers, and from 1981 to 1982, he managed Nankai. Returning to the U.S., he served as a minor league coordinator for the Philadelphia Phillies afterward. In his later years, he lived in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Early life
Blasingame was born on March 16, 1932, in Corinth, Mississippi. He was the third boy and fourth child of Chester Henry "Doc" and Ottie May Blasingame. Doc was a butcher in West Corinth at a local meat market. Don attended Corinth High School and excelled playing baseball for them and for American Legion Post 6 in Corinth. He helped Corinth High win the state championship in 1949. For the following season, he went to spring training with the Buffaloes. He suffered two injuries in spring training, burning his hand by grabbing a light bulb in a hotel room, then tripping over a base the day before the season, causing him to miss the first two weeks. However, he impressed the team enough to make their roster. "Can you imagine what a favorite he'll be if he keeps on looking like he does now?" manager Dixie Walker asked. He appeared in five games that fall for the Cardinals, reaching base 12 times in 23 opportunities. He batted .263 in his first 50 games, through June 12. Two days later, the Cardinals traded Schoendienst to the New York Giants, opening the door for Blasingame to take over at that position. He spent the rest of the year at second base and finished the season batting .261 with 153 hits, 94 runs, and 27 RBI in 150 games (587 at bats). He stole eight bases but was caught an equal number of times. September 4, he had an even better game against the Braves. With the game tied 4–4 in the 12th inning, Blasingame hit a double against Don McMahon with one out. He then stole third base, forcing McMahon to intentionally walk the next two hitters to set up a force play. An error by Bob Hazle allowed Blasingame to score, giving the Cardinals a 5–4 win. Another highlight came on June 12 that year, when he had four RBIs, including a two-RBI single in the 10th inning, helping the Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10–3 in the first game of a doubleheader. Used as a leadoff man, Blasingame led the National League (NL) with 650 at bats. Defensively in 1957, Blasingame led NL second basemen in assists and double plays.
In 1958, Blasingame batted .276 in the first half of the season, getting named to the National League All-Star team for the only time in his career. Bill Mazeroski played the whole game for the NL at second, but Blasingame did make an appearance, flying out when he pinch-hit for Warren Spahn in the fourth inning. Sports Illustrated reported he was "hurt a lot" that year, but he still appeared in 143 of 154 games. He batted .274 with 71 runs scored, 19 doubles, 10 triples (a career high), two home runs, and 20 steals. He had three hits, scored three times, and drove in two runs during a June 9, 12–3 victory over Milwaukee. On July 19, he had four hits and scored twice in a 9–5 victory, also over Milwaukee. He finished the season with a .289 batting average and 26 doubles, both career highs. While he only had 24 RBI, he scored 90 runs. He stole 15 bases but was caught a league-leading 15 times as well. He served as the team's leadoff man, just as he had in St. Louis. However, Blasingame failed to live up to expectations with the Giants. His batting average dropped to .235, the lowest of his major league career. In 136 games (523 at bats), Blasingame had 123 hits, two home runs, and 31 RBI. He did see improvement as a base stealer, as he was only caught stealing twice in 16 attempts. He was only used three times in the first two weeks, all as a pinch-hitter, before getting traded with Bob Schmidt to the Cincinnati Reds for Ed Bailey and a player to be named later (Sherman Jones).
"We needed some one to pull the infield together...Blasingame fit the bill," said Reds' manager Fred Hutchinson. In 123 games (450 at bats), Blasingame had 100 hits, one home run, and 21 RBI, only stealing four bases on the season. On April 18, he had three hits, four runs, and two RBI in a 14–0 victory over the Dodgers. On May 24, he had four hits, including a double and a triple, in a 5–0 victory over the Houston Colt .45's. He had five hits against the Cubs in a 7–5 victory over them in Game 1 of a doubleheader held on September 5. In 141 games (494 at bats), Blasingame had 139 hits, scored 77 runs, had two home runs, and drove in 35. Once again, he stole four bases. His extra-base hit totals were down, as he had nine doubles and seven triples. The Reds had a new second base prospect in spring training that year named Pete Rose; Blasingame was the only member of the team who thought he would make the roster. Rose went on to win Rookie of the Year honors that year. Though Rose won the second base job, he lost it temporarily to Blasingame after batting .130 in the first six games of the year. Blasingame played the next eight games there but batted .160 and lost the job to Rose again. Blasingame finished the 1963 season strong, batting .316 in his final 32 games beginning August 24. In 69 games (254 at bats) with the Senators, he batted .256 with 29 runs scored, 65 hits, two home runs, 12 RBI, and three stolen bases. In 87 games (285 at bats) between Cincinnati and Washington, he batted .246 with 33 runs scored and 70 hits (he had no home runs, RBI, or stolen bases with the Reds). On May 29, he pinch-hit in the sixth inning, drew a walk, scored the tying run, then had a two-RBI single against Ted Abernathy in the next inning to help the Senators beat the Cleveland Indians 8–4. August 4, he hit a bases-loaded two-RBI single against Sonny Siebert, putting the Senators ahead to stay in a 4–2 victory over Cleveland. He played 143 games (506 at bats) for the Senators, batting .267 with 56 runs scored, 135 hits, 17 doubles, one home run, and 34 RBI. Three days later, he had three hits and drove in the Senators' only run in a 2–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. His two-run single against Pete Mikkelsen on July 18 helped the Senators win a 3–0 victory over the Yankees. From August 22 through September 3, the Senators opted to play Ken Hamlin at second base instead of Blasingame. Blasingame only played 129 games (403 at bats) for the Senators in 1965, batting .223 with 90 hits, 47 runs scored, eight doubles, eight triples, one home run, and 18 RBI, stealing five bases. Blasingame's only home run of the year came against Dave Wickersham, a solo shot in a 4–3 loss to the Detroit Tigers on June 13. In the first game of a doubleheader against Boston on July 4, he struck out a season-high three times but had two RBI in Washington's 6–4 win over the Red Sox. He batted .218 with 43 hits, 18 runs scored, 11 RBI, and nine doubles in 68 games (200 at bats) through the end of July.
- July 13, 1962: Cubs pitcher Cal Koonce one-hit the Reds, giving up a single to Blasingame in a 1–0 Cubs victory.
- August 6, 1963: Stan Williams of the Yankees one-hit the Senators, giving up a double to Blasingame in a 1–0 Yankee win.
- August 20, 1963: Moe Drabowsky of the Athletics allowed one hit, a single by Blasingame, in the first game of a doubleheader as the A's won 9–0.
- September 25, 1965: Mudcat Grant of the Twins one-hit the Senators in the first game of a doubleheader to win, 5–0. Blasingame's double in the third inning was the only hit for Washington.
Playing style
Blasingame was a speedy contact hitter, usually the leadoff man for his team. He never hit more than eight home runs in a season but had a .350 on-base percentage in his years with the Cardinals. Later in his career, his defensive abilities apparently declined; Sports Illustrated noted he had trouble making the double play by 1963.
Player and manager in Japan
Opting to continue his playing career in Japan, Blasingame joined the Nankai Hawks in 1967. The Japanese referred to him by his nickname, "Blazer", because "Blasingame" was tough to pronounce and Blazer fit better in box scores. "It sounds snappy and even seems to evoke a spiritually stirring acoustic effect," said a publicity agent for the Hawks. "We ran over obstacle courses for a week and swung hammers and axes and ran up the side of a mountain,” Blasingame described spring training with Nankai. Playing second base for Nankai, he batted .268 with 61 runs scored, 128 hits, 18 doubles, six triples, five home runs, and 28 RBI, stealing five bases but getting caught nine times in 128 games (478 at bats). There was a rift between Blasingame and Hanshin's front office when Blasingame signed American Dave Hilton to play second base. Hilton slumped in his time with Hanshin, and the front office asked Blasingame to call up a prospect to replace him at the position while also supposedly negotiating to sign Bruce Boisclair to replace him on the roster. Blasingame resigned, citing violated promises by the management to let him make decisions about players on the roster. He returned to Japan in 1984 and 1991 for old-timer's games. Sara was the daughter of Walker Cooper, a teammate of Blasingame's on the Cardinals in 1956 and 1957. Cooper said of the marriage, "You know you are getting too old when your daughter marries one of your teammates." Blasingame and his wife had five children: Kent, Brett, Gregg, Dawn, and Cindy. Gregg was a professional indoor soccer player with the Louisville Thunder of the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA) from 1984 to 1985, the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1985 to 1989, and the Atlanta Attack of the AISA in 1989–1991 (the league changed its name to National Professional Soccer League in Gregg's final season). While Don was in Japan, the family divided the year living there and in the United States. All their children became fluent in Japanese, which helped Kent out later on when he was a scout in Asia for the Colorado Rockies. He is interred at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Scottsdale.
Legacy
The Corinth SportsPlex's youth baseball league was named after Blasingame in the 1970s, and in 1980, he was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. A street in Corinth was named Blasingame Street in his honor.