David Leonard Roberts (June 30, 1933 – October 3, 2021) was a

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who played 22 seasons of professional baseball. Of all professional baseball players whose careers began in 1952 only Hank Aaron had a longer career. Born in

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, he threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed .

Minor leagues

Roberts started out in class C ball with the Porterville Comets of the Southwest International League in . He was purchased by the St. Louis Browns on October 10, 1953, less than a month before the Browns would officially become the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. It was to be the last transaction made in St. Louis Browns franchise history. After a strong 1955 season in Class AA ball playing first base opposite

Brooks Robinson Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr. (born May 18, 1937) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. Nicknamed "the Human Vacuum Cleaner" or "Mr. Hoover", he is generally co ...

at third for the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded ...

in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, Roberts was demoted back to Class A ball in 1957 when another Texas league team refused to play against any team with black players. He had played ten seasons in the minors before finally getting a shot at the majors with the Houston Colt .45s

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

in . Roberts ended his American professional baseball career with the Columbus Jets in 1966.

Major League

Roberts' Major League career was uneventful. Between stints with the Oklahoma City 89ers, he collected just 178

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s with Houston, playing mostly first base, but also some

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. In 1966, he got one final shot at the majors with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, but went just 2-for-16 and was out of the majors for good.

Japanese leagues

In , Roberts made his way to the Sankei Atoms of the Japanese

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

. He made the all star team in 1968 and became the first '' gaijin'' to hit 40 home runs. He was an all-star in 1969, 1971 and 1972. In 1971, he set the record for home runs by a ''gaijin'' at 145. He played for them until , when he lost his job to the newly signed Joe Pepitone. (Pepitone lasted 14 games. His name came to be used to mean "goof off" in Japanese

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

). Roberts played one more season for the

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera St ...

before retiring.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Dave 1933 births 2021 deaths Aberdeen Pheasants players Austin Senators players Cardenales de Lara players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Columbus Jets players Dallas Rangers players Grand Forks Chiefs players Houston Buffs players Houston Colt .45s players Jacksonville Jets players Kintetsu Buffaloes players Knoxville Smokies players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from Panama Major League Baseball right fielders Oklahoma City 89ers players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in Japan Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the United States Sportspeople from Panama City Pittsburgh Pirates players Porterville Comets players Sacramento Solons players San Antonio Missions players Sankei Atoms players Tiburones de La Guaira players Vancouver Mounties players Yakult Atoms players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in Canada