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David Leslie Stapleton (born January 16, 1954) is a former
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 ...
player who played for the
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 ei ...
from 1980 to 1986. Stapleton attended
Robertsdale High School Robertsdale High School is a high school located in Robertsdale, Alabama and it is a part of the Baldwin County Public Schools System. The current principal is Mitch Pinkston. Controversies During a school football pep rally for the Robertsdale ...
then
University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...
. He lives in
Daphne, Alabama Daphne () is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The city is located along I-10, 11 miles east of Mobile and 170 miles southwest of the state capital of Montgomery. The 2010 United States ...
.


Professional career

Stapleton was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the tenth round (231st overall) of the 1975 amateur baseball draft and over the next five years worked his way up the Red Sox
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 ...
system playing for Winter Haven,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, and Pawtucket. He made his first appearance for the Red Sox on May 30, 1980. During his time with the Red Sox, he primarily served as a
utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. ...
, covering
first base 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 ...
, second base,
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 ...
and
third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...
as well as playing in the
outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...
and serving as
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 t ...
. In and he served as the team's first baseman, losing the job to
Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston R ...
in . From 1984 to 1986, Stapleton only played 82 games for the Red Sox. During Game 6 of the
1986 World Series The 1986 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1986 season. The 83rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the America ...
, Red Sox manager John McNamara left Buckner in the game rather than replace him with Stapleton for defensive purposes, leading to the Mookie Wilson ground ball that went through Buckner's legs, giving 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 leagu ...
a come-from-behind win in the tenth inning. The Mets went on to win the Series four games to three. After the 1986 season, Stapleton became a free agent and signed with the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion t ...
, but was released on March 31, 1987, prior to the start of the regular season. In his career, Stapleton batted .271 (550-2028), with 41 home runs, 224 RBI, 238 runs, 118 doubles, eight triple, six stolen bases, a .310 on-base percentage, and 807 total bases for a .398 slugging average. Stapleton played 7 years in the major leagues (1980–1986) and amazingly, his batting average went down every year he played (.321, .285, .264, .247, .231, .227, .128)


References


External links


Box score of his last game
from The Baseball Almanac :
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Dave 1954 births Living people Baseball players from Alabama Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball first basemen Boston Red Sox players Pawtucket Red Sox players South Alabama Jaguars baseball players People from Fairhope, Alabama International League MVP award winners