Michael Peter Epstein (born April 4, 1943), nicknamed "Super Jew", is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers,

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

, and California Angels of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

Early and personal life

Epstein was born in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York, and is Jewish.The Big Book of Jewish Baseball - Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz - Google Books
/ref> His parents were Jack (a salesman, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Evelyn (born in New York City). When he was three years old, his family moved to Hartsdale, New York, and then when he was 13 to the Fairfax District in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience - Peter Levine - Internet Archive
/ref> Epstein said of his father, who refused when Epstein was still a minor to sign a contract on his behalf with the Dodgers: "He wanted me to be a lawyer, rather than a bum."

Amateur career

Epstein played for the baseball and football teams while attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1961. He was named to the baseball second team on the All-Western League Team two years in a row, by the Helms Athletic Foundation's All-Southern California Board of Athletics. He played quarterback and fullback on the football team. Epstein attended the University of California-Berkeley on a football scholarship, playing as a running back in 1962, under future NFL hall of fame coach Marv Levy and alongside future NFL quarterback Craig Morton. He was recruited to Berkeley by future NFL hall of fame coach Bill Walsh. He majored in

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

and eventually played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the California Golden Bears, graduating in 1964. Although his .375 batting average in 1963 led to a contract offer by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, he decided to finish college. The following year, he batted .384 as a senior and was named an All-American.The Big Book of Jewish Baseball - Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz - Google Books
/ref> His .381 career average is a school record. He represented the United States in

baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport at the Tokyo games. It would become an official sport 28 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was the fifth time a baseball exhibition was held at the Olympics. The collegiate ...

as a

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in Tokyo. In 2023, Epstein was inducted into the California Athletics Hall of Fame.

Minor leagues

Epstein was signed by the Orioles as an amateur free agent in 1964, receiving a $20,000 signing bonus. Epstein played for the Stockton Ports of the California League in 1965, and led the league in batting average (.338) and home runs (30; tying a league record set by Vince DiMaggio). He was named the league's most valuable player (MVP). Rival manager Rocky Bridges nicknamed him "Super Jew" for his efforts that season. Epstein played for the Rochester Red Wings of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

in 1966, batting .309 with 29 home runs and 102

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs), earning him league MVP and Rookie of the Year honors. He was also named an All Star and received ''The Sporting News'' Minor League Player of the Year Award and Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award.

Major leagues

Epstein was first brought up for six games by the Baltimore Orioles in , at the age of 23. After the Orioles tried in vain to convert him to the outfield (they already had Boog Powell at first base), they demoted him to Rochester again. The outspoken Epstein refused to report, going home to California and continuing his schooling instead. He was traded in May 1967 with Frank Bertaina to the Washington Senators for Pete Richert, going from one of the best organizations in baseball to one of the worst. Later that season, in his first at-bat against the Orioles, Epstein hit a grand slam. In he was fourth in the league in HBP (9). In with the Senators, in only 403 at bats Epstein hit 30 home runs (ninth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

), had 85 runs batted in (RBIs), and hit for a .278 batting average (and .347 with runners in scoring position) with an excellent .414 on-base percentage and .551 slugging percentage. He was fourth in the league in hit by pitch (10), and he hit a home run every 13.4 at bats. He was 25th in voting for the American League MVP. This was also the only year in which the reconstituted Senators (now the Texas Rangers) finished above .500. In 1970, he was second in the league in being hit by a pitch (13), while hitting 20 home runs, and leading all AL first basemen in range factor (10.08). In 1969-70, he was managed by hall of fame hitting great Ted Williams. In 1969, Williams made a special effort to instruct Epstein on how to improve as a hitter, with a focus on teaching Epstein to only swing at strikes. That year, Epstein had career highs in batting average, home runs, bases on balls, runs batted in,

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. In only 18 more at-bats in 1969 than 1968, he had 17 more home runs, 33 more runs and 52 more RBI; and his batting average increased from .234 to .278. In 1970, however, Epstein's hitting declined as his average against left-handed pitching fell considerably. In May 1971, he was traded along with Darold Knowles to the

for Frank Fernandez, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash. In 1971, while hitting 18 home runs in 329 at bats, he was hit by a pitch 12 times, leading the league. In he hit 26 home runs (3rd in the league) for the world champion Athletics. He hit a home run every 17.5 at bats (3rd in the AL), had a .490 slugging percentage (5th), had a .376 on-base percentage (6th), collected 62 walks (10th), and was hit by a pitch 11 times (2nd). He was 16th in voting for the

MVP. However, in late May, while on the road in Arlington Texas, Epstein and slugger Reggie Jackson came to blows in the clubhouse over Epstein's use of complimentary tickets for family members. The next day, owner Charlie Finley asked him about the incident. Finley claimed Epstein attacked his star player (Jackson). Epstein disputed that, claimed that Jackson was the problem, and demanded to be traded. Going hitless in 16 at bats during the World Series that fall, in addition to his feud with manager Dick Williams over lack of playing time, resulted in the Athletics fulfilling his trade demand by sending him to the Texas Rangers for Horacio Piña on December 1, 1972. Additionally, the A's wanted to free up the first base position for Gene Tenace who was the star of that same Fall Classic. Opening batting .188 with one homer and six RBI, he was dealt along with Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek from the Rangers to the California Angels for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen on May 20. In 1973, he was seventh in the league in hit by pitches (8). On May 4, , he was released by the Angels. In 907 games over nine seasons, Epstein posted a .244 batting average (695-for-2854) with 362 runs, 130 home runs, 380 RBI, 448 bases on balls, .358 on-base percentage and .424 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .991 fielding percentage playing every inning at first base. In 13 postseason games, he hit only .108 (4-for-37) with two runs scored, one home run, one RBI, and nine walks. In 1991 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a member of the United States National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Through 2010, he was sixth all-time in career home runs (behind Mike Lieberthal) among Jewish major league baseball players.

Coaching

In 1993, the Milwaukee Brewers named Epstein manager of the rookie league Helena Brewers, who played in the Pioneer League. He only managed 11 games, as his hitting philosophy learned under Ted Williams was contrary to the current trend at the time.

After baseball

After his baseball playing days were over, Epstein ran a hitting school, teaching the techniques he learned from Ted Williams.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Reference (Minors)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Mike 1943 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players California Angels players California Golden Bears baseball players Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni Florida Instructional League Orioles players International League MVP award winners Jewish American baseball managers Jewish American baseball players Major League Baseball first basemen Minor league baseball managers Oakland Athletics players Rochester Red Wings players Baseball players from the Bronx Baseball players from Los Angeles People from Fairfax, California Baseball players from Marin County, California People from Hartsdale, New York Sportspeople from Greenburgh, New York Baseball players from Westchester County, New York Stockton Ports players Texas Rangers players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Washington Senators (1961–1971) players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics 21st-century American Jews