| Don Bollweg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First baseman | |
| Born: February 12, 1921 Wheaton, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: May 26, 1996(1996-05-26) (aged 75) Wheaton, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 28, 1950, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 10, 1955, for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .243 |
| Home runs | 11 |
| Runs batted in | 53 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Donald Raymond Bollweg (February 12, 1921 – May 26, 1996) was an American professionalbaseball player who appeared in 195games inMajor League Baseball as afirst baseman andpinch hitter for three teams between1950 and1955. Born inWheaton, Illinois, Bollweg threw and batted left-handed; he stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).
He signed his first pro contract with theSt. Louis Cardinals in1942, which he spent at theClass D level of theminor leagues, then served in theUnited States Army andU.S. Army Air Force duringWorld War II.[1] He resumed his playing career in1946, spending two seasons atDouble-AHouston and one atTriple-ARochester before finally making hisMLB debut at age 29 in September 1950. Bollweg appeared in only ten total games for the Cardinals during autumn 1950 and spring1951, when big-league rosters were expanded to 40 and 28 men, respectively.
On May 14, 1951, as they faced the annual roster cutdown to 25 players, the Redbirds dealt Bollweg to theNew York Yankees, who sent him to theKansas City Blues of theAmerican Association. Hebatted over .300 in both 1951 and1952, and in the latter year was selected the Association'sMVP.
That stellar Triple-A performance set the table for Bollweg's successful1953 season as a reserve first baseman and pinch hitter for a Yankees team that captured its fifth consecutiveAmerican Leaguepennant andWorld Series title. He appeared in 70 AL games, with 34 starts at first base, and collected 46hits and 21bases on balls in 178plate appearances, batting .297 with sixhome runs. In the1953 Series, won in six games against theBrooklyn Dodgers, he was used as a pinch hitter in Games 3 and 4,striking out both times, and as a defensive replacement forJohnny Mize in the ninth inning of clinching Game 6.
In December 1953, Bollweg was traded to thePhiladelphia Athletics in an 11-player deal, and he shared playing time at first base in1954 with right-handed-swingingLou Limmer. After that season, the Athletics moved toKansas City, site of Bollweg's finest years in Triple-A, in1955. Hesingled and drove in tworuns as a pinch hitter in the club's first-ever home game atMunicipal Stadium, but it was his only safety in nineat bats for the relocated franchise.[2]
After a final pinch hitting assignment against theBaltimore Orioles on May 10, 1955, Bollweg was sent to the minor leagues, again a cutdown-date casualty. He played for four high-level clubs in 1955–1956, then retired from pro baseball after playing a dozen seasons spanning 15 years.
Bollweg ended his major-league career with a batting average of .243, with 110 hits, 22doubles, seventriples, 11 homers, and 53runs batted in in 195 games.
After baseball, he returned to Illinois, working largely in real estate and insurance. He died in Wheaton at age 75 in 1996, three years after suffering astroke.[1]
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