Blaine Alphonsus Durbin (September 10, 1886 – September 11, 1943), nicknamed "Danny Dreamer,""Story of the Way Durbin Got the Name Danny Dreamer"
''Omaha Daily Bee''. Apr 13, 1911. Retrieved March 12, 2020.Dryden, Charles
"CUBS "FIT" AFTER ONE REHEARSAL: Three Hours' Work in Morning Puts Team in Shape for Today's Game; DIAMOND WELL CREASED; Vicksburg Manager Has Troubles with Steam Roller, but Triumphs in the End; Cubs Already Are 'Fit'; Evans an Epworth Leaguer; Walsh Has Hearty Breakfast"
''Chicago Daily Tribune''. March 15, 1908. Retrieved March 12, 2020."Kaws Land One; Danny Durbin's Dream Comes True in Second Game"
''The Topeka State Journal''. Jun 30, 1911. Retrieved March 12, 2020. was an American

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), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He was born in

Lamar, Missouri Lamar is a city in and the county seat of Barton County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 4,266. It is known as the birthplace of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States. The city governm ...

Major League career

Durbin made his Major League debut on April 24, 1907, for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. That season, he appeared in five games as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, going 0–1 with a save. He also played the outfield in five games that season. Durbin played for the Cubs during their 1907 and 1908 pennant-winning seasons but did not play in either

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Before being traded to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

on January 18, 1909 (together with

Tom Downey Thomas Edward Downey (January 1, 1884 – August 3, 1961) was a major league baseball player. Born in Lewiston, Maine, Downey played on several baseball teams after his first professional appearance at age 25 on May 7, 1909. Downey played for t ...

for outfielder John Kane), Durbin had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of only .250 in 14 games, and on May 28, after appearing in only six games for Cincinnati, he was shipped to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, doing little more than ride the bench before being released scarcely one month later. Durbin appeared only once (and for the final time in a Major League uniform), as a pinch-runner representing the potential tying run in the ninth inning of a 3-2 loss to Chicago, on June 30, 1909, in the first game ever played at

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of t ...

."Pirates Lose the First Game Played on Forbes Field; Pittsburgh Loses to Champion Chicago"
''The Gazette Times''. July 1, 1909. Retrieved 2020-03-09.

Later life

After playing a few years in Minor League Baseball, Durbin retired as a baseball player. Just one day after his 57th birthday on September 11, 1943, Durbin died in

Kirkwood, Missouri Kirkwood is an inner-ring western suburb of St. Louis located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad th ...

. His burial is located at Saint Peters Cemetery in Kirkwood at St. Louis County in Missouri. Durbin was memorialized as the protagonist in the fictional novel ''The Best Team Ever'' (2008) by Alan Alop and Doc Noel ().

References

External links

SABR biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durbin, Blaine 1886 births 1943 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Pittsburgh Pirates players Fort Scott Giants players Joplin Miners players St. Joseph Saints players Scranton Miners players Omaha Rourkes players Topeka Jayhawks players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Baseball players from Missouri People from Lamar, Missouri

Major League career

Later life

References

Further reading

External links