David Martin Rader (born December 26, 1948) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played as a

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), ...

from through , with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(1971–1976),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(1977), Chicago Cubs (1978), Philadelphia Phillies (1979) 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 ...

(1980). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Major League career

Rader was selected by the San Francisco Giants as their number one pick in the

1967 Major League Baseball Draft The 1967 Major League Baseball draft (or "first-year player draft") recruits amateur baseball players into the American Major League Baseball league. The players selected in 1967 included many talented prospects who later had careers in the prof ...

. He became the Giants' starting catcher in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, posting a .259

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 ...

in 127 games. Rader finished as runner-up to

Jon Matlack Jonathan Trumpbour Matlack (born January 19, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through for the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers. The three-t ...

for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Rookie of the Year Award, and won ''The Sporting News'' Rookie of the Year Award. The next season, he posted career-highs in

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 (9), runs (59),

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(41) and fielding percentage (.991) but hit for only a .229 batting average in 148 games. In 1974 and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

he averaged .291 each season. In October 1976, Rader was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals where he served as a reserve catcher working behind

Ted Simmons Ted Lyle Simmons (born August 9, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. A switch-hitter, Simmons was a catcher for most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1968–1980), the Mil ...

during the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

season. After one year with the Cardinals, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in December 1977. Rader became the Cubs' regular catcher during the 1978 season, playing in 114 games but, only managed to post a .203 batting average and, in February

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, he would be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. He served as a third string catcher with the Phillies, backing up

Bob Boone Robert Raymond Boone (born November 19, 1947) is an American former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who was a four-time All-Star. Born in San Diego, California, he is the son of MLB player Ray Boone, and he is the father o ...

and

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardina ...

. Rader would be traded a final time in March 1980 to the Boston Red Sox where he backed up regular Red Sox catcher, Carlton Fisk. In November 1980, the Red Sox granted Rader

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. He signed with the California Angels in February 1981 but was released two and a half months later.

Career statistics

In a ten-year major league career, Rader played in 846 games, accumulating 619 hits in 2,405 at bats for a .257 career batting average along with 30 home runs and 235

. Rader had a career .983 fielding percentage. Rader was the Giants catcher on August 24,

when

Ed Halicki Edward Louis Halicki (born October 4, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1974 to 1980. On August 24, 1975, Halicki threw a no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants against the New York M ...

pitched a no-hitter against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rader, Dave 1948 births Living people People from Claremore, Oklahoma Baseball players from Oklahoma Major League Baseball catchers San Francisco Giants players St. Louis Cardinals players Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Boston Red Sox players Salt Lake City Giants players Fresno Giants players Amarillo Giants players Phoenix Giants players