Donald Lee Buschhorn (born April 29, 1946) is a retired 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), ...

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 ...

. He played for the Kansas City Athletics during the season. He is right-hander stood tall and weighed . Buschhorn spent the entire 1965 campaign — his second as a professional — on the Athletics' roster per the bonus rules of the mid-1960s. His first three appearances of that season were as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, and in his debut game against the eventual

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

champion

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, Buschhorn

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

the first two big-league batters he faced:

Zoilo Versalles Zoilo Casanova Versalles Rodriguez (; December 18, 1939 – June 9, 1995), nicknamed "Zorro", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball, most notably for the Minnesota Twins. He was the catalyst wh ...

and

Rich Rollins Richard John Rollins (born April 16, 1938) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. He played with the Minnesota Twins (1961–68), Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1970), and Cleveland Indians (1970) ...

. Versalles would be the AL

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

for 1965. The Twins eventually reached Buschhorn for two runs, including one on a

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 ...

by Jerry Kindall,1965-5-15 box score from Retrosheet
/ref> and Buschhorn was tagged with the 2–0 loss, his only MLB decision. In 31 innings for the Athletics that season, Buschhorn yielded 36

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and eight

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, striking out nine. His professional career continued in 1966 and 1968–1969.

References

1946 births Living people Baseball players from Missouri Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Independence, Missouri Wytheville A's players Burlington Bees players Modesto Reds players Birmingham A's players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub