David Alan Hostetler (born March 27, 1956) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

who played for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, Texas Rangers, and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

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). He also played for the

Nankai Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). As of November 2007, he is the National Coordinator of Baseball Sales for equipment company Riddel

and an ambassador to youth players.

Career

Collegiate and early minor league career

Hostetler was drafted in the 4th round of the 1975 amateur draft by 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 Yor ...

out of junior college but did not sign. In 1976, he was again drafted by San Francisco and did not sign. He was taken in the second phase of the draft by 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 ...

but returned to school again. In 1977, the Giants drafted him for a third time with no success. He was a big star at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, where he was one of the key players on the team that won the 1978 College World Series, along with

Dave Engle Ralph David Engle (born November 30, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball utility player who played for the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers of the American League and the Montreal Expos of the National League from 1981 to ...

Dave Van Gorder David Thomas Van Gorder (born March 27, 1957) is a retired Major League Baseball catcher. He played during five seasons at the major league level for the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles. He was drafted by the Reds in the second round of the ...

, and Tim Tolman. Hostetler hit a home run in the championship game against

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. Drafted in the fourth round of the

1978 Major League Baseball draft In 1978, four American baseball players were promoted from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State University third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta Braves. Oakland High School pitche ...

by the

Montréal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, he finally signed a deal. He debuted that year with the West Palm Beach Expos, hitting .269/~.361/.378. In 1979, Hostetler spent his first full pro season with the

Memphis Chicks Memphis Chicks may refer to: *Memphis Chicks (Southern Association), a Minor League Baseball team that played from 1901 to 1960 *Memphis Chicks (Southern League) The Memphis Chicks were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Southern Lea ...

, hitting .270/~.359/.445 with 20 homers, 114 RBI and 110 strikeouts. He tied for sixth in the Southern League in home runs, drove in the most and drew a league-high 14 intentional walks. He made the SL All-Star team at DH and drove in 19 more than runner-up Paul Householder.

Denver Bears

In 1980, he played on one of the truly great minor league teams, the

Denver Bears Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, who won over two-thirds of their games. The other stars on his team that year were

Tim Raines Timothy Raines Sr. (born September 16, 1959), nicknamed "Rock",Raines received this nickname at an Expo rookie camp when he was seventeen, based on his physique. is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a left ...

Randy Bass Randy William Bass (born March 13, 1954) is an American politician and former baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and served in the Oklahoma Senate. Bass made his MLB debut in 1977, a ...

, and

Tim Wallach Timothy Charles Wallach (born September 14, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman, most notably for the Montreal Expos from to . A five- ...

. Hostetler was the regular first baseman (Bass DH'ed) and hit .269/~.345/.371, with only 9 home runs and 58 RBI in a very hitter-friendly environment. He was the only member of the infield not to make the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

All-Star team as Raines (2B), Wallach (3B) and

Jerry Manuel Jerry Lorenzo Manuel Sr. (born December 23, 1953), nicknamed "The Sage," is a former major league manager. He previously managed the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2003 and the New York Mets from the middle of 2008 to 2010 and played in the major ...

(SS) were all selected. While Denver was not as good in 1981, Hostetler was far better, hitting .318 with 27 HR and 103 RBI. His homer total was more than

Nick Esasky Nicholas Andrew Esasky (born February 24, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and third baseman. During his career, which spanned over seven and a half years and was spent mostly with the Cincinnati Reds (1983–1988), the former ...

and

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

combined in the 1981 American Association, and he was only one home run behind league leader George Bjorkman. Only teammate Dan Briggs, with 110 RBI, drove in more. Hostetler was the A.A. All-Star first baseman that year. Getting his first major league playing time, he went 3 for 6 with a homer for the 1981 Expos. All of his hits came in the Expos' last regular-season game, on October 4 in New York, after the team had clinched the second-half titl
(Boxscore)
His monster home run off

Pete Falcone Peter Frank Falcone (born October 1, 1953) is an American former professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves. Early years As a senior at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, N ...

was the team's only run in a 2-1 loss in which Montreal fielded a AAA line-up after the first few innings.

Texas Rangers

Hostetler was traded along with

Larry Parrish Larry Alton Parrish (born November 10, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and manager. Parrish played with the Montreal Expos (1974–81), Texas Rangers (1982–88), and Boston Red Sox (1988). He also played two seasons in Ja ...

from the Expos to the Texas Rangers for

Al Oliver Albert Oliver Jr. (born October 14, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won ...

on March 31, 1982.Chass, Murray. "Gamble Bars Deal; Expos Get Oliver," ''The New York Times'', Thursday, April 1, 1982, 1982.
Retrieved October 31, 2020 He was a .232 hitter, with 22 HR and 67 RBI for the Rangers in 1982, as their primary first baseman, but he struck out 113 times in 418 at-bats and saw his playing time dwindle after that. He led the team in home runs in spite of not playing his first game until May 29, giving Ranger fans hopes that he would become a huge power threat. However, he was replaced at 1B by rookie Pete O'Brien in 1983, and did not last long at DH as his power faded away, with only 11 home runs in 94 games while his strikeout rate went from bad to awful. Texas Ranger fans had hoped he might someday be as good as

Dave Kingman David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong," "King Kong," and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career hom ...

, but Hostetler never had much success in the Major Leagues. He had been acquired in 1982, along with

, in a spring training trade with the Montreal Expos for

, who subsequently went on to tear up the National League. At least Texas fans were able to see Parrish be productive for several seasons in Arlington. Hostetler's strong start and quick fade were much like

Kevin Maas Kevin Christian Maas (born January 20, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball player. Originally viewed as a top prospect for the New York Yankees he was unable to replicate the success of his rookie year and played for two major league ballclu ...

's efforts with the

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 ...

in 1990.

Back to the American Association

In 1984, Hostetler returned to the American Association with the

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 ...

, hitting .304 with 11 homers. He was then traded back to Montreal in exchange for

Chris Welsh Christopher Charles Welsh (born April 14, 1955) is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, and Cinci ...

. He began the 1985 season with the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

, but was sold to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

on May 12 and assigned to the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

. Overall that year, he hit .256/~.332/.490 with 29 HR in 132 games. He led the A.A. in home runs plus topped the league with 89 RBI, and made the All-Star team as the DH.

Nankai Hawks

Hostetler also spent time playing baseball in Japan, appearing with the

of the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

in 1986 and 1987. The first year he hit .285/.346/.480 with 25 home runs, and in 1987 he hit .251/.332/.417 with 17 home runs.

At the end of the road

Coming back to the USA, he signed with the

and played six games with them in 1988. He spent most of the 1988 season with the second minor league team to draw a million fans, the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of the American Association, hitting .187/~.280/.311 in 84 games. He spent his time there mostly warming the bench behind

Randy Milligan Randall Andre Milligan (born November 27, 1961) is a former American Professional Baseball first baseman who played from 1987 to 1994. He is currently a scout with the Baltimore Orioles of the Major League Baseball (MLB). Milligan is nicknamed "M ...

and

Orestes Destrade Orestes Destrade Cucuas (born May 8, 1962) is a Cuban former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Florida Marlins. Destrade also played in Nippon Professional ...

, playing only 14 games at first base. Most of his starts came at DH.

References

Sources include 1979–1981 and 1989 Baseball Guides, 1986 Baseball America Statistics Report
Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hostetler, Dave 1956 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Pasadena, California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Denver Bears players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Memphis Chicks players Montreal Expos players Nankai Hawks players Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Oklahoma City 89ers players Pittsburgh Pirates players Texas Rangers players USC Trojans baseball players West Palm Beach Expos players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players