Mike Epstein

Full Name: Michael Peter Epstein	Primary Position: 1B
Height/Weight: 6' 3.5"/230	First Game: September 16, 1966
Birthdate: April 4, 1943	Final Game: April 28, 1974
Birthplace: Bronx, New York	MLB Experience: 9 years
Bat/Throw: Left/Left

Rate this Player

3.00

(5 votes)

1 Biography
2 Statistics
- 2.1 Batting Stats
- 2.2 Fielding Stats
3 Transactions
4 Trivia
5 Video Gallery
6 Picture Gallery
7 See Also
8 Categories

[edit] Biography

Mike Epstein (Michael Peter Epstein) was born on April 4, 1943 in Bronx, New York. He made his Major League debut on September 16, 1966 for the Baltimore Orioles. In 1967, his rookie year, he hit .226 with 9 home runs and 29 RBI. Epstein played for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers and California Angels over the course of his 9 year career.

Epstein was a very successful and highly recruited running back in his scholastic days. He played baseball and football at The University Of California- Berkley. He still holds the school record with a .384 career batting average and was a member of the first U.S. Olympic baseball team that won the Gold Medal in Tokyo,Japan in 1964.

In 1965,playing for the Stockton Ports,Epstein was The California League's Rookie of the Year and MVP. He led the league in batting and homeruns.

In 1966,playing for the AAA Rochester Red Wings,Epstein hit .309 with 29 homeruns and 102 rbi's. He was voted the International League MVP and Sporting News Player Of The Year.

Career Highlights: 1967 - Hit Grand Slam in first game against his former team,The Baltimore Orioles 1967 - Major League record,32 putouts in one game by first baseman against The Chicago White Sox 1969 - Hit 3 homeruns in one game against The Chicago White Sox 1970 - 8 RBI's in one game against The Baltimore Orioles 1971 - Hit Homeruns in 4 consecutive at at bats against his former team,The Washington Senators 1971 - Led the American League in being Hit By Pitch(12). Ranked second twice 1972 - As a member of the Oakland A's,he was 3rd in the American league with 26 homeruns

Most people believe that Mike Epstein's best season was 1969, when he slugged 30 home runs, hit for a .278 average and knocked in 85 runs in only 403 official plate appearances.

Epstein,along with his son Jake,run "Epstein Hitting School",out of Greenwood Village,Colorado. The successful instructional school is endorsed by Hall Of Famer Ted Williams,who many consider the greatest hitter of all time.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	IBB	GDP
1966	BAL	A	6	11	1	2	0	3	.182	.250	.364	0	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
1967	WAS	A	96	284	32	65	9	29	.229	.331	.377	7	4	38	74	6	0	1	5	3
1967	BAL	A	9	13	0	2	0	0	.154	.313	.154	0	0	3	5	0	0	0	0	1
1967	TOT	A	105	297	32	67	9	29	.226	.330	.367	7	4	41	79	6	0	1	5	4
1968	WAS	A	123	385	40	90	13	33	.234	.338	.366	8	2	48	91	13	1	1	5	13
1969	WAS	A	131	403	73	112	30	85	.278	.414	.551	18	1	85	99	10	0	2	10	8
1970	WAS	A	140	430	55	110	20	56	.256	.371	.444	15	3	73	117	9	0	2	6	7
1971	WAS	A	24	85	6	21	1	9	.247	.366	.318	1	1	12	31	4	0	1	1	0
1971	OAK	A	104	329	43	77	18	51	.234	.368	.438	13	0	62	71	8	2	0	5	3
1971	TOT	A	128	414	49	98	19	60	.237	.367	.413	14	1	74	102	12	2	1	6	3
1972	OAK	A	138	455	63	123	26	70	.270	.376	.490	18	2	68	68	11	0	0	9	7
1973	TEX	A	27	85	9	16	1	6	.188	.317	.259	3	0	14	19	3	0	0	0	2
1973	CAL	A	91	312	30	67	8	32	.215	.300	.330	8	2	34	54	5	0	0	2	9
1973	TOT	A	118	397	39	83	9	38	.209	.304	.315	11	2	48	73	8	0	0	2	11
1974	CAL	A	18	62	10	10	4	6	.161	.288	.387	2	0	10	13	1	0	0	0	0
Total			907	2854	362	695	130	380	.244	.358	.424	93	16	448	645	70	3	7	43	53

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	TP	AVG
1966	BAL	A	1B	4	2	25	36	2	0	3	0	1.000
1967	WAS	A	1B	80	77	684	718	54	10	72	0	.987
1967	BAL	A	1B	3	2	23	25	1	0	2	0	1.000
1967	TOT	A	1B	83	79	707	743	55	10	74	0	.988
1968	WAS	A	1B	110	107	926	947	70	13	83	1	.987
1969	WAS	A	1B	118	115	984	1035	69	11	99	0	.990
1970	WAS	A	1B	122	118	1044.1	1100	70	10	104	0	.992
1971	WAS	A	1B	24	24	208	224	12	2	30	0	.992
1971	OAK	A	1B	96	95	787	714	52	4	93	0	.995
1971	TOT	A	1B	120	119	995	938	64	6	123	0	.994
1972	OAK	A	1B	137	137	1101.2	1111	73	12	101	0	.990
1973	TEX	A	1B	25	25	211	200	12	2	19	0	.991
1973	CAL	A	1B	86	85	735.2	710	50	5	61	0	.993
1973	TOT	A	1B	111	110	946.2	910	62	7	80	0	.993
1974	CAL	A	1B	18	18	145.2	137	12	1	14	0	.993
Total			1B	823	805	6875.1	6957	477	70	681	1	.991

[edit] Transactions

Signed as an amateur free agent by Baltimore Orioles (1964).
Traded by Baltimore Orioles with Frank Bertaina to Washington Senators in exchange for Pete Richert (May 29, 1967).
Traded by Washington Senators with Darold Knowles to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Frank Fernandez, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad and cash (May 8, 1971).
Traded by Oakland Athletics to Texas Rangers in exchange for Horacio Pina (November 30, 1972).
Traded by Texas Rangers with Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek to California Angels in exchange for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen (May 20, 1973).
Released by California Angels (May 4, 1974).