Ed Brinkman

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Edwin Albert Brinkman (born December 8, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio) was a Major League Baseball shortstop. He played with the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees during his fifteen year playing career. Ed Brinkman led the American League in games played twice, won a Gold Glove Award at shortstop, and had a career batting average of .224.

Brinkman was part of a legendary eight-player trade in 1971, which sent Brinkman, third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez and pitchers Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan from the Washington Senators to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for 1968 MVP Denny McLain, Don Wert, Elliott Maddox, and Norm McRae.

In 1972, he won the "Tiger of the Year" award from the Detroit baseball writers,[1] and finished 9th in American League MVP voting despite a .205 batting average. Brinkman earned the votes for his defensive prowess. Brinkman was awarded the Gold Glove in 1972 with a fielding percentage of .990 (33 points above the .967 league average for shortstops). In 1972, Brinkman also had 233 putouts and 495 assists in 156 games at shortstop. On August 5, 1972, Brinkman's error ended his record streak of 72 games and 331 total chances without a miscue.

Brinkman was not a good hitter, even compared to the average shortstop. He has the record for the number of seasons(seven) with 400+ at-bats, less than 15 HR, and a BA lower than .230. Since 1930 only one player with 5000+ at-bats has a lower average. Brinkman's batting average would have been even worse if it were not for Ted Williams, because Brinkman hit .266 and .262 under the guidance of the all-time hitting expert when Williams managed the Washington Senators. Subtract the 1969 and 1970 results, and Brinkman's lifetime average tumbles to .214. It was his dependable glove that made Brinkman a major leaguer from 1961 to 1975. He committed a then-record low seven errors in 156 games for the division-winning Tigers in 1972. Even with a .203 average, Brinkman was hailed as one of the team's most valuable players, and he won a Gold Glove that season.

Brinkman was a high school teammate of Pete Rose at Cincinnati's Western Hills High School. Paul "Pappy" Nohr, the baseball coach at Western Hills, described Rose as "a good ball player, not a Brinkman." (David M. Jordan, "Pete Rose: A Biography," p. 6)[2] Based on their performance in high school, scouts saw Brinkman rather than Rose as the future superstar. When he was a senior, Ed batted .460 and also won 15 games as a pitcher.^[1] Brinkman was paid a large (for the time) bonus of $75,000 by the Washington Senators in 1959. Brinkman later said: "Pete always kidded me that the Washington Senators brought me my bonus in an armored truck. Pete said he had cashed his at the corner store." (David M. Jordan, "Pete Rose: A Biography," p. 7)[3]

[edit] Notes

[edit] Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• BR Bullpen
• William A. Cook, "Pete Rose: Baseball All-Time Hit King"[4]
• BaseballLibrary.com
• David M. Jordan, "Pete Rose: A Biography" (Greenwood Press 2004) [5]