Henry John "Dutch" Dotterer Jr. (November 11, 1931 – October 9, 1999) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who appeared in all or part of five seasons in

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), ...

for the Cincinnati Redlegs/Reds (–) and the expansion Washington Senators (). A native of

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, he attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and while there was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi Gamma).

Baseball career

Dotterer threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 209 pounds (95 kg). After his pro career began in 1950, he played six full years 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 Nor ...

and spent two years in military service before his

MLB 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), ...

debut in September 1957. In 107

games, Dotterer batted .247, with 74

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—including 15 doubles and five

home runs 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 ...

—and 33

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 bat ...

In , Dotterer backed up regular Cincinnati catcher Ed Bailey, hitting .267 with two homers and 17 RBI in 161 at-bats. At the close of the 1960 season, he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics, who then left him unprotected in the

1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1960 MLB expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960, to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators. The Angels and Senators (who later became the Texas Rangers) were new franchises that ...

, where he was acquired by Washington with the 12th pick in the player lottery. Dotterer was the only player to hit a grand slam off Sandy Koufax and the only player to twice beat Warren Spahn, another

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

left-handed

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 ...

, with extra-inning pinch hits. His grand slam against Koufax, struck June 10, 1960, at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

, provided all the Reds' runs in a 4-3 win. Dotterer made the 1961 Opening Day maiden roster of the Senators and logged 19 at-bats with them, but on April 30 of that season he played his final MLB game, after which he spent the rest of his pro career with his hometown Syracuse Chiefs of the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

in 1961–1962. He died in Syracuse at age 67.

Family

His father, Dutch Dotterer Sr., was a minor-league

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

who became a longtime

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for Cincinnati, the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. His brother, Tom, an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, played minor league baseball in the Cincinnati organization. His son, Mike, graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he is a member of the

Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

in both football and baseball. Mike was drafted by the New York Yankees (1979, 1983), the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

(1982) and in the

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by the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

(1983), where he was a member of the 1984

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

Championship Team.

References

External links

*Career statistics and player information fro
Baseball Almanac
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Baseball Reference
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Baseball Reference (minors)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dotterer, Dutch 1931 births 1999 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American military personnel of the Korean War Baseball players from Syracuse, New York Burlington Flints players Cincinnati Redlegs players Cincinnati Reds players Havana Sugar Kings players Jersey City Jerseys players Lockport Reds players Major League Baseball catchers Memphis Chickasaws players Nashville Vols players Ogden Reds players Rapiños de Occidente players Seattle Rainiers players Syracuse Chiefs players Syracuse Orangemen baseball players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players

Baseball career

Family

See also

References

External links