Robert Daniel Didier (born February 16, 1949) is an American former

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for three different teams from

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

through 1974. Listed at , , he was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed. He entered the majors in 1969 with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, playing with them four years before joining the Detroit Tigers (1973) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(1974). In his rookie season, Didier appeared in a career-high 114 games, helping his team win the

National League West Division The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

title. At the end of the season, he finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year vote (behind

Ted Sizemore Ted Crawford Sizemore (born April 15, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He was named the National League's Rookie of the Year in . Early life Sizemore was born in Gadsden, Alabama, but moved to Detroit, at the age of two ...

Coco Laboy José Alberto "Coco" Laboy (born 3 July 1940) is a former Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent in 1959 but remained mired in the minor leagues, playing for a while in Nort ...

and

Al Oliver Albert Oliver Jr. (born October 14, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won f ...

and over

Larry Hisle Larry Eugene Hisle (; born May 5, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and hitting coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies (1968–71), Minnesota Twins (1973–77), an ...

) and also was named to the 1969 ''Topps'' All-Star Rookie Roster. After that, he suffered arm and back problems and played only in 133 games over the next five seasons. While in Atlanta, he became the preferred catcher of

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This cha ...

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 318 career victor ...

. The son of

Mel Didier Melvin Joffrion Didier Sr. (June 25, 1926 – September 10, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Minor League Baseball for two years (1948-49). However, he spent more than 60 years in pro ball as a scout and executive. Biograp ...

, a longtime scout and player development executive in the major leagues, Bob Didier was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In a six-season career, he was a .229 hitter (172-for-751) with 32 RBI and 32 runs without

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s. As a catcher, he collected 1276

outs In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a ha ...

, 119 assists, and committed only nine errors in 1404 chances, for a .994 fielding percentage. Following his playing retirement, Didier managed in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

for the Tigers,

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

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 ...

and Chicago Cubs organizations. In the majors, he has coached for the Oakland Athletics (1984–86) and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(1989–90), and also has worked as a catching coordinator in the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

system. In 2007 Didier was part of the coaching staff at Major League Baseball's Academy in Tirrenia, Italy. The academy, for 55 elite players from 17 countries in Europe and Africa, was held from August 9 through August 30. The players were chosen by major league scouts at tryouts in Europe during the month of April. Didier joined Chinese Olympic team manager

Jim Lefebvre James Kenneth Lefebvre ( ; born January 7, 1942) is a former major league baseball player, coach, and manager. An infielder, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1962. Baseball career Playing career Lefebvre was th ...

as well as former major leaguers

Barry Larkin Barry Louis Larkin (born April 28, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player. He played shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2004. He briefly played in the minor leagues before making h ...

Bruce Hurst Bruce Vee Hurst (born March 24, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher. He is best remembered for his performance for the Boston Red Sox in the postseason, where he won two games while allowing only two run ...

Lee Smith Lee Smith is the name of: Arts, entertainment and media *Lee Smith (fiction author) (born 1944), American author of fiction * Lee Smith (film editor) (born 1960), Australian film editor * Lee Smith (musician) (born 1983), American drummer * Lee Sm ...

and

John Cangelosi John Anthony Cangelosi (born March 10, 1963) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Florida Marlins ...

. He managed the

Yakima Bears The Yakima Bears were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Yakima, Washington. The Bears competed at the Class A Short Season level as members of the Northwest League from 1990 to 2012. Following the 2012 season, ...

from 2008 to 2010.

References

External links

Names in the Game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Didier, Bob 1949 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Mississippi Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs scouts Detroit Tigers players Greenwood Braves players Kinston Eagles players Iowa Oaks players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball third base coaches New York Yankees scouts Oakland Athletics coaches Pawtucket Red Sox players Richmond Braves players Seattle Mariners coaches Sportspeople from Hattiesburg, Mississippi Syracuse Chiefs managers Toledo Mud Hens players West Palm Beach Braves players