William R. Seinsoth (April 4, 1947 – September 7, 1969) was an American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who is most notable for winning the 1968 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He is one of seven players from University of Southern California to win that award. The others are

Bill Thom William Charles Thom (born August 15, 1937) was a pitcher who is most notable for winning the 1958 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at University of Southern California. He is one of seven players from University ...

Bud Hollowell Buddy Ryan "Bud" Hollowell (January 1, 1943 – May 16, 2014) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. After his athletic career, he became an educator and author. Athletic career Hollowell was born and raised in Lo ...

Russ McQueen Russell Leroy McQueen (born January 9, 1953) is an American baseball pitcher who is most notable for winning the 1972 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a sophomore at University of Southern California. He is one of seven p ...

George Milke George E. Milke (born 1954) is a former baseball pitcher. He won the 1974 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a sophomore at University of Southern California. He is one of seven players from USC to win that award. The others ...

Rod Boxberger Rodney Warren Boxberger (born August 22, 1957 in Santa Ana, California) is a former baseball pitcher. He won the 1978 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at the University of Southern California (USC). Professional ...

and

Wes Rachels Wesley Adam Rachels (born January 19, 1976 in Los Angeles, California) is a former second baseman who won the 1998 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a senior at the University of Southern California. Amateur career Whil ...

. Also an All-American, he hit .327 with 31 RBI in his sophomore season. The next year, he hit .312 with six home runs and 23 RBI. He hit .368 with 14 home runs and 52 RBI in 1969. He had a career .337 average in college. Seinsoth played for the

Alaska Goldpanners The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are a collegiate summer baseball team which was founded in 1960 as an Independent league baseball, independent Barnstorm (sports), barnstorming team. The Goldpanners were charter members of the Alaska Baseball ...

of the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. The Midnight Sun Game, held at Growden Memorial ...

from 1966 to 1968. He was named the Goldpanners' team MVP in 1967. Prior to playing collegiately, Seinsoth attended Arcadia High School. Seinsoth was drafted five times, but he played only one year professionally, never reaching the majors. He died in a traffic collision while on the way to watch the professional football debut of his college friend O. J. Simpson. He died at Harbor General Hospital in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

. One of the letters received for his funeral was from California Governor Ronald Reagan, who wrote "One thing you know more than anyone is how much better the world is because of your son passed our way.. you have every reason to be proud of him." Rod Dedeaux said, "If Bill Seinsoth had lived, there's a good chance that no one would have ever heard of Steve Garvey." Seinsoth was the subject of a 2016 book by fellow Arcadia High School graduate Steven K. Wagner titled "Seinsoth: The rough-and-Tumble Life of a Dodger" (Sunbury Press).

Times drafted

(Year, Team, Round) *1965,

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, 15th *1967,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, 9th *1968,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, 5th *1969, Washington Senators, 4th *1969,

, 1st

Professional baseball and family relations

He signed with the Dodgers for a $40,000 signing bonus. He played for the

Bakersfield Dodgers Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

in 1969, hitting .276 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. His cousin was former

player

Tommy Hutton Thomas George Hutton (born April 20, 1946), is an American former professional baseball infielder-outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos. ...

. His father, also named Bill Seinsoth, played professionally from 1936 to 1950.

References

Los Angeles Times article

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seinsoth, Bill USC Trojans baseball players 1947 births 1969 deaths College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners Baseball players from Los Angeles Bakersfield Dodgers players Road incident deaths in California Arcadia High School (California) alumni Baseball players from Arcadia, California