Don Blasingame

Who was Don Blasingame?

Don Lee Blasingame was a second baseman in Major League Baseball who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators and Kansas City Athletics. Blasingame batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

He grew up in Corinth, Mississippi and attended Corinth High School. He served in the U.S. military in 1951 and 1952 and signed with the Cardinals in 1953.

Nicknamed “Blazer”, Blasingame was a second baseman with five MLB teams in 12 seasons, and later he was the third American to manage in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Blasingame was a .258 career hitter with 21 home runs and 308 RBI in 1444 games.

A classic line drive hitter, Blasingame was also a skilled bunter.In fact he reached 88.3% of the time with the bases empty, bunting for a hit. 2nd all time He was a fast and smart runner -- he hit into fewer double plays than anyone in major league history except Don Buford.

He made his major league debut at age 23 on September 20, 1955 in a 2-0 Cardinals win over the Chicago Cubs. Starting at second base and batting leadoff, his first career at-bat resulted in his first hit, a single off Sam Jones, and he scored on a Solly Hemus home run.