Richard Fremont Dauer (born July 27, 1952) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

former infielder and coach in

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 (AL), ...

(MLB). He spent his entire 10-year MLB playing career with 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 ...

, winning the

1983 World Series The 1983 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1983 season. The 80th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles and the National ...

. He was primarily a second baseman, and also played

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. Following his career as a player, he spent 19 seasons as an MLB coach for numerous teams, winning the World Series in as the first base coach for the Houston Astros. Played San Bernardino Spirit baseball coach in the 1988 motion picture Stealing Home which starred Mark Harmon and Jodie Foster. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012.

Early years

Born in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 ce ...

, Dauer graduated from Colton High School in 1970 and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the Indians of

San Bernardino Valley College San Bernardino Valley College is a public community college in San Bernardino, California. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The college has an enrollment of 17,044 students and covers . Valley College is also a ...

. He transferred to the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, where he was an All-American at third base and helped the Trojans win the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

and 1974, USC's fifth consecutive title and sixth in seven years.

Pro playing career

Selected in the first round of the 1974 MLB draft in early June, Dauer was the 24th overall pick and began his pro career in the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

with the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in differe ...

. He moved up to the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League (IL) late in the 1975 season. The following season with the Red Wings, he won the league batting title with a .336 average, was named Rookie of the Year and shared Most Valuable Player honors with Mickey Klutts and Joe Lis. He was called up by the Orioles that year and struggled, getting only four hits in 39

at bats 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 ...

.Rosenfeld, p. 58 Dauer's struggles continued at the start of

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, as he had just one hit in his first 41 at bats. He began the year as the Orioles' starting second baseman but lost the role to Billy Smith. He credited Brooks Robinson and Lee May with helping him out, saying, "You can't make it in the Majors by yourself." By the end of the year, he had regained the second base job from Smith. He batted .243 with 74 hits, 15 doubles, five home runs, and 25 RBI in 96 games while compiling a .982 fielding percentage at second base. Dauer played in the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

postseason, and

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

defeated the California Angels in four games in the best-of-five

1979 American League Championship Series The 1979 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five series that pitted the East Division champion Baltimore Orioles against the West Division champion California Angels, who were making their first postseason appearance. The Orioles w ...

to secure the pennant, Baltimore's first since 1971. In the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, the O's built 3-1 lead, then lost the last three games to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played in the World Series in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, also known as "the

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

Series," won by the

over the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. Dauer holds two American League single season fielding records for a second baseman, including 86 consecutive errorless games and 425 straight errorless chances, both set in 1978. Dauer is one of the few players to have won a

(twice) and an MLB

. In 2012, Dauer was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame, becoming the 12th member of the 1983 championship team to be inducted.

Coaching career

Dauer has worked as a minor league coach for five organizations, and managed the Seattle Mariners Class A San Bernardino Spirit affiliate in 1987. At the major league level, he coached for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies. On December 19, 2012, he was named Manager of the Padres' Class AA affiliate, the San Antonio Missions. Former teammate Lenn Sakata credited Dauer with helping him at shortstop in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and 1982. "While I was at short, Rich gave me all the help and encouragement I needed. He was one of the best." Dauer served as the first base coach for the Astros in 2017, where they won the

for the first time ever that year. At the World Series parade Dauer suffered a subdural hematoma as a result of a head injury which required emergency brain surgery.

References

External links

, o
SABR Biography Project
o

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauer, Rich 1952 births Living people Asheville Orioles players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from California Cleveland Indians coaches Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches Houston Astros coaches Kansas City Royals coaches Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third base coaches Milwaukee Brewers coaches Rochester Red Wings players San Antonio Missions managers San Bernardino Pride players USC Trojans baseball players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela International League MVP award winners Sportspeople from San Bernardino, California People from Colton, California All-American college baseball players San Bernardino Valley College alumni

Early years

Pro playing career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links