HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — To those who knew him, it’s clear. Don Mincher is Huntsville’s original Mr. Baseball.
The Huntsville native played high school ball at the since-defunct S.R. Butler High School, where he met his better half, Pat, before signing a deal with the Chicago White Sox.
A few years in the minors and a trade later, Mincher broke through in the Major Leagues with the Washington Senators, who moved and became the Minnesota Twins. During his time with the Twins, Mincher appeared in the 1965 World Series.
That 1965 team gave the Mincher family a prized possession. In the Twins’ American League Pennant win celebration, Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew ripped Mincher’s #5 jersey off his back with his bare hands.
The Twins would fall to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team filled with historic players like Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, in the World Series.
Mincher’s career spanned over 12 years as he played with the Washington Senators, who became the Twins, the California Angels, the Seattle Pilots, Washington Senators, who became the Texas Rangers.
“He was the only person who was with the Senators when they moved one time to become the Twins and the second time to become the Rangers,” Don Mincher’s son, Mark, said. “We used to joke a lot that whoever is in Washington, whatever baseball team, they really don’t want him there. They don’t need him to come back cause they’ll go somewhere.”
He capped his career off as a member of the 1972 World Series Champion Oakland Athletics to put a feather in the cap of his great career.
“It probably was the one thing that was missing that every player would like to achieve,” Mincher said.”
He hammered 200 career home runs, was a two-time all-star, batted in 643 runs and held a .243 career batting average. Mark described his dad as a power hitter.
“He typically hit in the four or five hole,” Mincher said. “He was not a big average guy, now towards the end of his career, he was, he would hit .280, .300.”
Off the field, Mincher was highly thought of by his teammates.
“He was a good teammate. He was good in the clubhouse, a couple teams elected him player rep for the association. I think he was highly thought of in that regard,” Mincher said.
His teammates weren’t the only ones who thought highly of him.
“The Mr. Baseball in Huntsville was Don Mincher,” Huntsville sports writer Mark McCarter said. “A guy who was a cherished friend to me, a guy who just poured his heart into that franchise.”
After his playing career, Mincher came back to Huntsville, where he opened a trophy shop. This business became the second leg of his career.
A few years later, talk of a minor league team coming to town started to circulate. Mincher didn’t know it yet, but the third leg of his career was about to begin.
The post Starstruck: The original Huntsville Mr. Baseball, Don Mincher appeared first on WHNT.
