Dwain Cleaven Anderson (born November 23, 1947) is an American former

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 ...

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 wh ...

Oakland A's

The

El Cerrito High School El Cerrito High School is a four-year public high school in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. It is located on Ashbury Avenue in El Cerrito, California, United States and serves students from El Cerrito, a portion of eastern Richm ...

standout signed as an amateur

free agent 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 a ...

with the

Kansas City A's The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

in at just seventeen years old. He batted .249 with 31 home runs and 250

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 ...

over seven seasons in Athletics' farm system to earn a September call-up in . Anderson made his major league debut in the second game of a September 3 doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins. In his second at bat, he singled off Ray Corbin, and came around to score Oakland's only run of the game. On September 18, Anderson's ninth inning

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

broke a 2–2 tie to lead his A's to a 4–2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. He started the following season back in the minors, but an injury to second baseman

Dick Green Richard Larry Green (born April 21, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from through , most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consec ...

led to a call-up in early May. He appeared in three games, and was hitless in seven at bats. On May 15, , he was traded to the

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 ...

for

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

Don Shaw.

St. Louis Cardinals

Anderson's career with the Cards began mostly as a pinch hitter and late inning defensive replacement for aging shortstop

Dal Maxvill Charles Dallan Maxvill (born February 18, 1939) is a retired shortstop, coach and general manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his career, Maxvill played, coached, or was an executive for four World Series winners and seven league cham ...

. As the season progressed, and Anderson's

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 ...

hovered around .300, Maxvill was dealt to Anderson's former club, the A's. Shortly afterwards, Anderson hit his only major league

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 ...

off 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 ...

' Bob Rauch, however, just over a week later, Anderson suffered a season ending injury. He ended the season batting .267, and was named to the

Topps All-Star Rookie Team The Topps All-Star Rookie Team, also known as the Topps ASRT, is a set of baseball cards issued by Topps Company, Inc., every year to commemorate notable Major League Baseball rookie players. History Since the 1960s, Topps' regular-issue basebal ...

. He entered Spring training expecting to battle Mike Tyson for the starting shortstop job, but a poor Spring relegated him to backup utility infielder. He appeared in eighteen games with the Cardinals, almost exclusively as a pinch hitter, and batted just .118. Having also become something of a defensive liability, Anderson began seeing less and less playing time, and on June 7 he was traded to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

for Dave Campbell.

San Diego Padres

The highlight of his Padres career came on July 8, when his eighth inning

squeeze bunt In baseball, the squeeze play (a.k.a. squeeze bunt) is a maneuver consisting of a sacrifice bunt with a runner on third base. The batter bunts the ball, expecting to be thrown out at first base, but providing the runner on third base an opportun ...

drove in Dave Roberts with the winning run over the Chicago Cubs, however, he batted just .149 up to that point, and soon saw his playing time in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

drop as well. After the season, he was traded to 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 Fi ...

for Lou Camilli.

Cleveland Indians

Anderson appeared in two games for the Indians, but spent most of his stay with the organization with the triple A

Oklahoma City 89ers Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. On June 21, , he was traded to the New York Mets for

Brian Ostrosser Brian Leonard Ostrosser (born June 17, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who appeared in four games for the New York Mets in 1973 when injuries to several players left the team short of infielders. He had a 1.000 fielding perce ...

, however, he never appeared in a major league game for the Mets. He batted .264 with two home runs and fourteen RBIs for the triple A

Tidewater Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesap ...

before retiring. He played 149 games 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), ...

(MLB) from 1971 to 1974 for the Oakland Athletics (–),

(–),

(), and

().

References

External links

Dwain Anderson
at

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Dwain 1947 births Living people Oakland Athletics players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres players Cleveland Indians players Baseball players from Oakland, California Major League Baseball shortstops African-American baseball players Burlington Bees players Lewiston Broncs players Leesburg A's players Peninsula Grays players Birmingham A's players Iowa Oaks players Tidewater Tides players Oklahoma City 89ers players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople