Dave Baldwin

[Michael Trzinski]

David George Baldwin was born in March 1938 in Tucson, Arizona. After high school, he attended the University of Arizona and despite hurting his right elbow as a sophomore, led the Wildcats to the College World Series the following year before losing in the championship game to Oklahoma State. In the summer of 1959, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and scout Danny Regan for a bonus in the $40,000-$50,000 range.

After languishing for five years in the Phillies organization, Baldwin was purchased by the New York Mets in early 1964 and released in May. The Houston Colt 45s picked him up on the first day of June and released him at the end of the month. Two weeks later, he was signed by the Washington Senators. After the 1964 season he experimented with a sidearm/submarine style and would use that the rest of his career.

He made his big-league debut in 1966 for Washington and appeared in at least 40 games each of the next three years, including a stellar 1967 when he saved 12 games and posted an ERA of 1.70, ERA+ of 187, and a FIP of 2.45. He saved a total of 10 games combined over the next two years in the Nation’s Capital before being traded to the Seattle Pilots in December 1969.

When the Pilots became the Brewers in 1970, Baldwin was one of the more effective Brewer relievers, posting a 149 ERA+ and an ERA of 2.55 over 28 relief appearances. In March 1971, Baldwin was purchased by Hawaii in the Triple-A, a farm club of the San Diego Padres. He pitched for two seasons in Hawaii and was purchased by the Chicago White Sox in March 1973.

Baldwin was 37 days short of qualifying for a baseball pension, so the pitcher took uniform number 37. General manager Roland Hemond and manager Chuck Tanner called the pitcher up from Triple-A Iowa and kept him on the roster for those 37 days. He pitched 12 games in 1974 in the minors before retiring.

Baldwin’s career after baseball is very interesting. He got his PH.D. in genetics and his M.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona. Baldwin has articles published in the Harvard Business Reviews and several others. He also worked as an artist and one of his paintings is hung in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

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[JohnBriggs12]

I remember Baldwin.  He was solid for the expansion Brewers.  I couldn't understand why they let him go after his solid 1970 season.  The Brewers GM, Frank "Trader" Lane was always making deals.  Could it be possible Selig needed the cash and the AAA Hawaii team was trying anyway to accumulate major league talent?  Who knows?