Happy Birthday, Richie Scheinblum

The former Major Leaguer turns 67 today.

From BaseballLibrary.com:

The switch-hitting Scheinblum frustrated his managers by being a slow starter. “Never in my career have I batted over .200 the first month of the season,” he once said. A perennial prospect with Cleveland, he batted just .186 in 1969, was sold to Washington, and was soon back in the minor leagues. After he led the American Association with a .388 batting average and 108 RBI in 1971, he was purchased by the Royals, for whom he hit .300 as an everyday right fielder in 1972. That November, Kansas City sent him to Cincinnati in the trade for Hal McRae. He batted .222 for Cincinnati in the first 29 games in 1973, was traded to California, and batted .328 the rest of the way – .371 after the All-Star break, and .419 in September.

After leaving the Majors in 1974, he played two seasons for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, becoming the first Jewish player to play for a Japanese franchise. He hit 45 homers and batted .295 during that period.

According to Howard Megdal in The Baseball Talmud

Anytime Scheinblum got the chance to settle into a full-time role, he hit. Unfortunately, teams often make player evaluations on small samples. They are statistically unreliable, and in Scheinblum’s case, they probably cost him a career as a regular.


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