Rob Deer, One Of The First ‘Three True Outcomes’ Players

Robert George Deer was born in September 1960 in the Los Angeles suburb of Orange. He starred in both baseball and football at Canyon High School in Anaheim. Living up to his last name, Deer was a swift wide receiver as a teen but would make his living hitting baseballs instead of catching footballs.

Rob Deer was drafted in the fourth round of the 1978 June Amateur Draft by the San Francisco Giants. Fellow Anaheim area pitcher Mike Witt was selected seven picks behind Deer, who was the 85th pick overall in that draft.

Although Deer would be known for his majestic home runs, he failed to hit a single long ball in his first pro season at Rookie League Great Falls (Montana) in 137 at-bats. Deer started the 1979 season at Cedar Rapids (Iowa) in the Low-A Midwest League but was sent back to Great Falls after one month with a batting line of .209/.266/.267 across 86 at-bats, with only one home run. The lanky (6-foot-3, 210 pound) Deer showed promise in his second try in the rookie league, batting .317/.422/.560 with 18 doubles, seven triples, and seven homers in 218 at-bats. It would be the only time in Deer’s 19-year professional career that he had a batting average above .300 for the season.

Over the next five seasons, Deer moved up from Single-A to Triple-A in the Giants’ organization, finally showing his power as he slugged 139 homers in just over 2,200 at-bats. He finished as league home run king three of those years and finished in the runner-up spot another year. He got called up to San Francisco at the end of the 1984 season and hit three jacks in 24 at-bats.

In 1985, Deer played the whole season in the ‘City By The Bay,’ but only appeared in 78 games, slashing .185/.283/.377 across 162 at-bats. In December the Giants traded Deer to Milwaukee for pitching prospects Eric Pilkington and Dean Freeland. The swap favored the Brewers as Deer played five seasons for the Brew Crew while neither Pilkington nor Freeland ever played in the big leagues.

Deer quickly became a Milwaukee fan favorite, reminiscent of slugging Brewer hero Gorman Thomas, who had returned to Milwaukee for the 1986 season after bouncing around in Cleveland and Seattle for a few years. Deer led Milwaukee in home runs during each of his five seasons, compiling 137 dingers in that time frame, which currently ranks 14th on the Brewers all-time career list, just behind Christian Yelich’s 145.

In his first season in Milwaukee, Deer slashed .232/.336/.494 and hit 33 homers, which was a career-high for the righty slugger. He also led the team with 86 RBIs while whiffing 179 times, which was a crazy-high number in those days. Deer usually played right field with his strong arm, but also played in left field and spent a few dozen games at first base during his Brewer career.

The following season, Deer batted .238/.360/.456 with 28 homers. His 186 strikeouts were a career high and led the American League. He also stole a career-high 12 bases. The Brewers started the season with 13 consecutive wins, including the thrilling comeback win on Easter Sunday. Deer hit the game-tying home run in the ninth, a three-run shot, before Dale Sveum smacked a two-out, two-run homer to give the Brewers a 6-4 win in front of a raucous County Stadium crowd of 29,357. Deer was featured on the April 27 edition of Sports Illustrated, his fist raised in jubilation as he circled the bases after his home run.

In 1988, Deer hit a career-high .252 and hit 23 homers, and once again led the AL in whiffs with 153. His 85 RBIs were second on the team behind Robin Yount’s 91. Deer’s stats dropped off a bit in 1989, as he slashed only .210/.305/.425. But he did hit 26 homers and was third on the team with 65 RBIs.

In his final season in Milwaukee, Deer produced a carbon copy of the previous year, slashing .209/.313/.432 with 27 homers and 67 RBIs. Deer was granted free agency after the season and signed with the Detroit Tigers.

He played two-plus seasons with the Tigers and slugged 71 home runs in over 1,150 at-bats. Deer also led the AL in strikeouts two of those seasons. He was demoted to part-time status in 1993 and asked to be traded. In August, he was sent to the Boston Red Sox for the proverbial ‘played to be named later,’ which ended up being an ‘unspecified amount of cash.’ Deer was granted free agency after the season and signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japan Central League. He played only 70 games with a slash line of .151/.279/.297 with eight home runs. His season ended when he tore ligaments in his right thumb trying to make a catch of a foul pop-up while playing first base.

In April 1995, the California Angels signed Deer to a minor-league contract. He played at Triple-A Vancouver (British Columbia) and despite batting .288/.398/.525 with four home runs in 80 ABs, the 34-year-old Deer was released to make room for a younger player. A couple weeks later he was signed to a minor-league deal by the San Diego Padres. He had a solid summer in Triple-A Las Vegas, slashing .292/.377/.587 with 14 round-trippers in just 223 ABs. However, he was released after the season.

The Padres re-signed Deer before Christmas 1995, but the player asked for his release in late March 1996. Three weeks later after receiving no calls from major league teams, Deer re-signed with the Las Vegas club. He was called up to San Diego in early July when Tony Gwynn went on the disabled list and played in 25 games, slashing just .180/.359/.480 across 50 ABs with four HRs. When Gwynn returned to the team, Deer was designated for assignment.

In April 1997, the Madison (Wisconsin) Black Wolf team of the Independent Northern League made a contract offer to both Deer and pitcher Jim Abbott, but nothing came of those offers.

Deer finished his career with 230 home runs and a slash line of .220/.324/.442 in 11 big league seasons.

After his playing career ended, Deer worked as a hitting instructor and hitting coach in the San Diego organization, as well as being an assistant hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs under manager and former teammate Sveum.

When asked how a .220 career hitter could be a hitting instructor, Deer said with a smile, "I’ll be the first to admit I don’t want them to hit like I did."

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