David Ritchie Machemer ( ; born May 24, 1951) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player,

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

, and

minor league 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 No ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He played 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), ...

as a second baseman from 1978 to 1979 for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Machemer was most recently a special assignment scout for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight char ...

. Machemer threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Over his 11-season minor league playing career, he batted .277 with 1,078 hits in 1,126 games played.

Biography

Machemer was born in

St. Joseph, Michigan St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore ...

. He attended

Benton Harbor High School Benton Harbor High School is a high school in Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States, and is part of the Benton Harbor Area Schools. History In 2009, the school received a $52,000 grant from the U.S. federal government's stimulus program to upgr ...

Benton Harbor, Michigan Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...

where he was teammates with

Don Hopkins Don Hopkins is an artist and programmer specializing in human computer interaction and computer graphics. He is an alumnus of the University of Maryland and a former member of the University of Maryland Human–Computer Interaction Lab. He in ...

. His

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 ...

career began in June 1972, when he was selected by the Angels in the fourth round of the amateur draft. He made his major-league debut at the age of 27 for the California Angels on June 21, 1978, playing second base and leading off against the Minnesota Twins. In his first major-league at-bat, versus Twins pitcher

Geoff Zahn Geoffery Clayton Zahn (born December 19, 1945) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched thirteen seasons in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1985. In his career, he had a Win–loss record of 111–109, an earned run average of 3.74 ...

, Machemer hit a home run to deep left field, making him one of only 118 players in major-league history to homer in his first at-bat. That home run would prove to be his only major-league home run. Machemer has recorded over 1,600 victories in 23 seasons since his managerial debut in 1985. He led the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at ...

to the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

championship in 1986 and guided the

AZL Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Sc ...

to their third league title in five years with a win over the AZL Angels on August 31, 2008. Machemer also spent time as a minor league manager or coordinator with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

(1985–91),

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 ...

(1992–95) and the Orioles (1996–2002). Machemer came to 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 Yo ...

' system in 2005 after working the previous three years with the

organization (2002–04). He was at Double-A

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in P ...

in 2003–04 when he earned his 1,000th triumph on August 22, 2003. With the Giants, Machemer guided the Double-A

Norwich Navigators Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, ...

to a 71–71 record in 2005, then took the

Connecticut Defenders The Connecticut Defenders were a Minor League Baseball team based in Norwich, Connecticut. The team, which played in the Eastern League, was the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major-league club from 2003 until following the 2009 ...

to a 64–77 mark in 2006, and 41–58 ledger in 2007. In 2008, the veteran minor league skipper returned for his fourth season with the Giants' organization, his first at the helm of the

Arizona League Giants Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Co ...

, a rookie-level team based in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nic ...

. Machemer managed the previous three years at Double-A Connecticut. After winning the 2008 AZL championship, he was promoted to the Class A

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previo ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

(2009–10), then back to Double-A with the

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

of the Eastern League (2011–13). Machemer then returned to the Baltimore organization in 2014 as a scout. Other managerial stops have included: Double-A Bowie (2001), Class A Advanced Frederick (2000), Triple-A Rochester (1999), Class A

Delmarva The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia. ...

(1998), Double-A

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

(1988 and 1996–97), Triple-A

Denver 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 ...

(1989–90), Class A Advanced Stockton (1986–87) and Rookie-level Beloit (1985).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machemer, Dave 1951 births Living people Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Michigan California Angels players Central Michigan Chippewas baseball players Detroit Tigers players El Paso Diablos players Evansville Triplets players Major League Baseball second basemen Minor league baseball managers Quad Cities Angels players Rhode Island Red Sox players Rochester Red Wings managers Rochester Red Wings players Salinas Packers players Salt Lake City Gulls players Stockton Ports players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toledo Mud Hens players