Don August

[Michael Trzinski]

Donald Glenn August was born in 1963 in Inglewood, California. After graduating from Capistrano Valley High School, he attended Chapman University in Orange, California. August earned All-American status and played for the United States Olympic team in 1984 in Los Angeles. That year, baseball was only a ‘demonstration sport’ and no medals were awarded. The US lost to Japan in the final game and finished second.

August was drafted in the first round (17th overall) by the Houston Astros in the 1984 MLB Amateur Draft. He started at Double-A Columbus (Georgia) in the Southern League and won 14 games and had an ERA of 2.96 in 27 starts. That earned him a promotion in 1985 to Triple-A Tucson in the Pacific Coast League. In mid-August, the right-hander was traded to the Brewers with Mark Knudson for Danny Darwin. August pitched at the Triple-A level for Milwaukee until June 1988 when he got called up to the big leagues. After getting a victory in his first appearance (two innings in relief against the California Angels), August went on to have one of the finest rookie seasons ever for the Brewers. He won 13 games with an ERA of 3.09 and an ERA+ of 129. He notched one shutout among his six complete games. (Just to show how the game has changed, the six CG were tied for 21st in the American League!) August finished fourth in the AL ROY voting.

In 1989, August won 12 games against 12 losses and his ERA ballooned to 5.31. The following season, August was sent down at the end of April, mostly due to his 12.27 ERA, even though he had only pitched 3.2 innings. After 22 starts—and an ERA of 7.11—at Triple-A Denver, August appeared in two games in September for Milwaukee.

The following season was the last big-league campaign for August. He won nine games and had a FIP of 4.74 in 23 starts (and five relief appearances). He had one complete game shutout.

August was a free agent after the 1991 season and pitched in the Detroit, Cleveland, San Diego, and Pittsburgh organizations the next four years. August pitched two years in Mexico, five years in Taiwan, and one year in Italy before hanging up his spikes for good in 1999.

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