Dan Driessen Marquee

b. July 29, 1951 · Cincinnati Reds 1973–1984, Montreal Expos 1984–1985, San Francisco Giants 1985–1986, Houston Astros 1986, St. Louis Cardinals 1987

The designated hitter was allowed in the World Series for the first time in 1976, and Cincinnati's was Driessen, who hit .357 in the four games against the Yankees. He was twenty-four and had spent three years waiting behind Tony Pérez.

Fifteen seasons gave him 1,464 hits, 282 doubles, 153 home runs, 763 runs batted in, 761 walks and a .267 average. He led the National League with 93 walks in 1980 and stole 31 bases in 1977, the year he had 17 home runs and 91 runs batted in.

He took over first base when Cincinnati traded Pérez after 1976 and held it for eight years. He was never an All-Star and no Hall of Fame ballot has listed him.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
Player of the Week	2	1977, 1982

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1973	CIN	102	366	49	110	15	2	4	47	24	37	8	.301
1974	CIN	150	470	63	132	23	6	7	56	48	62	10	.281
1975	CIN	88	210	38	59	8	1	7	38	35	30	10	.281
1976	CIN	98	219	32	54	11	1	7	44	43	32	14	.247
1977	CIN	151	536	75	161	31	4	17	91	64	85	31	.300
1978	CIN	153	524	68	131	23	3	16	70	75	79	28	.250
1979	CIN	150	515	72	129	24	3	18	75	62	77	11	.250
1980	CIN	154	524	81	139	36	1	14	74	93	68	19	.265
1981	CIN	82	233	35	55	14	0	7	33	40	31	2	.236
1982	CIN	149	516	64	139	25	1	17	57	82	62	11	.269
1983	CIN	122	386	57	107	17	1	12	57	75	51	6	.277
1984	CIN/MON	132	387	47	104	24	0	16	60	54	40	2	.269
1985	MON/SFG	145	493	53	120	26	0	9	47	50	51	2	.243
1986	HOU/SFG	32	40	7	10	3	0	1	3	9	6	0	.250
1987	STL	24	60	5	14	2	0	1	11	7	8	0	.233
Career	—	1732	5479	746	1464	282	23	153	763	761	719	154	.267

On this day & linked events

1951

Born July 29, 1951

Hilton Head Island, SC, USA

1973

Major-league debut: Dan Driessen

Dan Driessen made a major-league debut on June 9, 1973.

1987

Final major-league game: Dan Driessen

Dan Driessen played a final major-league game on October 3, 1987.

Image: Hostess, public domain