Darrell Porter Marquee

b. January 17, 1952 · Milwaukee Brewers 1971–1976, Kansas City Royals 1977–1980, St. Louis Cardinals 1981–1985, Texas Rangers 1986–1987

In 1979 he hit 20 home runs, drove in 112 and drew 121 walks to lead the American League, one of the best seasons any catcher has had. The following spring he left the Royals for a rehabilitation clinic and said publicly that he was addicted to cocaine, amphetamines and alcohol, which almost no active player had done.

He came back, played through 1987, and in October 1982 was the most valuable player of both the Championship Series and the World Series for St. Louis, which won the title. Seventeen seasons gave him 1,369 hits, 188 home runs, 826 runs batted in, 905 walks and a .247 average, with four All-Star selections.

He was found dead in a park in Missouri in August 2002, at fifty, of cocaine toxicity. The 1993 ballot gave him no votes at all.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	4	1974, 1978, 1979, 1980
NLCS MVP	1	1982
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1979
World Series MVP	1	1982

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1971	MIL	22	70	4	15	2	0	2	9	9	20	2	.214
1972	MIL	18	56	2	7	1	0	1	2	5	21	0	.125
1973	MIL	117	350	50	89	19	2	16	67	57	85	5	.254
1974	MIL	131	432	59	104	15	4	12	56	50	88	8	.241
1975	MIL	130	409	66	95	12	5	18	60	89	77	2	.232
1976	MIL	119	389	43	81	14	1	5	32	51	61	2	.208
1977	KCR	130	425	61	117	21	3	16	60	53	70	1	.275
1978	KCR	150	520	77	138	27	6	18	78	75	75	0	.265
1979	KCR	157	533	101	155	23	10	20	112	121	65	3	.291
1980	KCR	118	418	51	104	14	2	7	51	69	50	1	.249
1981	STL	61	174	22	39	10	2	6	31	39	32	1	.224
1982	STL	120	373	46	86	18	5	12	48	66	66	1	.231
1983	STL	145	443	57	116	24	3	15	66	68	94	1	.262
1984	STL	127	422	56	98	16	3	11	68	60	79	5	.232
1985	STL	84	240	30	53	12	2	10	36	41	48	6	.221
1986	TEX	68	155	21	41	6	0	12	29	22	51	1	.265
1987	TEX	85	130	19	31	3	0	7	21	30	43	0	.238
Career	—	1782	5539	765	1369	237	48	188	826	905	1025	39	.247

On this day & linked events

1952

Born January 17, 1952

Joplin, MO, USA

2002

Died August 5, 2002

1971

Major-league debut: Darrell Porter

Darrell Porter made a major-league debut on September 2, 1971.

1987

Final major-league game: Darrell Porter

Darrell Porter played a final major-league game on October 4, 1987.

Image: Johnmaxmena2, public domain