Douglas Lee Griffin (June 4, 1947 – July 27, 2016) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

second baseman who played for the California Angels 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 ...

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), ...

(MLB).

Early life

Griffin played high school baseball at

El Monte High School El Monte High School in El Monte, California, is a public high school of the El Monte Union High School District. It is one of the oldest high schools in the San Gabriel Valley. Founded in 1901, it began operation in a single, upstairs classroom ...

in California, graduating in 1965, where he achieved All-Pacific League, All-Valley, and All-California Interscholastic Federation honors. He also lettered in basketball, football and track.

Professional career

Griffin was drafted in the 21st round of the

1965 Major League Baseball draft The 1965 Major League Baseball Draft is the first year in which a draft took place for Major League Baseball. It was held on June 8–9 in New York City. In Major League Baseball's first Free Agent Amateur Draft, the Kansas City Athletics selec ...

by the California Angels, and played in their minor league organization until his call-up in 1970. After 18 games with the Angels, in which he hit .127 with four RBI in 62 games, he was traded to the Red Sox in a six-player trade that sent popular outfielder

Tony Conigliaro Anthony Richard Conigliaro (January 7, 1945 – February 24, 1990), nicknamed "Tony C" and "Conig", was a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played for the Boston Red Sox (1964–1967, 1969–1970, 1975) and California ...

to the Angels. Griffin was the Red Sox' regular second baseman from 1971 until mid-1975. He was not a particularly good hitter, posting modest

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 ...

s with few walks and very little power, but instead he was an excellent fielder, winning a Gold Glove Award in 1972. In June 1975, the Red Sox acquired veteran second baseman

Denny Doyle Robert Dennis Doyle (January 17, 1944 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels, and Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , ...

from the Angels, and for the rest of the season, the left-handed-hitting Doyle was the Red Sox's primary second baseman, with the right-handed-hitting Griffin starting only against left-handed pitchers. Griffin did not appear in the American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics, and made only one brief appearance in the

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 ...

against the Cincinnati Reds. Griffin suffered numerous injuries during his professional career. On April 30, 1974, Griffin was beaned by a

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

fastball, knocking him unconscious. The beaning left him with a concussion and temporary hearing loss. On August 30, 1975, he was beaned again, this time by Oakland's

Dick Bosman Richard Allen Bosman (born February 17, 1944) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1966–73), Cleveland Indians (1973–75), and Oakland Athl ...

. Griffin experienced hearing and equilibrium problems, but recovered very quickly. This time he had been wearing an ear flap with his protective helmet. Griffin played only sparingly in 1976, and was released after playing in only five games in 1977.

Later life

After baseball, Griffin worked in construction. First with his father in the 1970s, and later for Buddy LeRoux in the 1980s. On July 27, 2016, Griffin died after a long illness.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Doug 1947 births 2016 deaths Baseball players from California Boston Red Sox players California Angels players El Paso Sun Kings players Gold Glove Award winners Hawaii Islanders players Idaho Falls Angels players Major League Baseball second basemen People from South Gate, California Quad Cities Angels players