William R. Seinsoth (April 4, 1947 – September 7, 1969) was an American

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 is most notable for winning the

1968 College World Series The 1968 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1968 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the C ...

Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He is one of seven players from University of Southern California to win that award. The others are

Bill Thom William Charles Thom (born August 15, 1937) was an American pitcher who is most notable for winning the 1958 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at University of Southern California. He is one of seven players from U ...

Bud Hollowell Buddy Ryan "Bud" Hollowell (January 1, 1943 – May 16, 2014) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. After his athletic career, he became an educator and author. Athletic career Hollowell was born and raised in Lo ...

Russ McQueen Russell Leroy McQueen (born 1953) is an American baseball pitcher. In the 1972 College World Series, he had a string of 14 consecutive scoreless innings. On March 30, 1974, he pitched a no-hitter. That was the first game ever played at Dedeaux Fi ...

George Milke George E. Milke (born 1954) is a former baseball pitcher. He won the 1974 College World Series College World Series Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Player award while a sophomore at University of Southern California. He is one of seven p ...

Rod Boxberger Rodney Warren Boxberger (born August 22, 1957) is a former baseball pitcher. He won the 1978 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at the University of Southern California (USC). Professional career Boxberger was dra ...

and

Wes Rachels Wesley Adam Rachels (born January 19, 1976) is a former second baseman who won the 1998 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a senior at the University of Southern California. Amateur career While at USC in 1996, he played c ...

. Also an All-American, he hit .327 with 31 RBI in his sophomore season. The next year, he hit .312 with six home runs and 23 RBI. He hit .368 with 14 home runs and 52 RBI in 1969. He had a career .337 average in college. Seinsoth played for the

Alaska Goldpanners The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are a collegiate summer baseball team which was founded in 1960 as an independent barnstorming team. The Goldpanners were charter members of the Alaska Baseball League at the league's inception in 1974, but le ...

of the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league based entirely in southern Alaska. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. In the past, ...

from 1966 to 1968. He was named the Goldpanners' team MVP in 1967. Prior to playing collegiately, Seinsoth attended Arcadia High School. Seinsoth was drafted five times, but he played only one year professionally, never reaching the majors. He died in a

traffic collision A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...

while on the way to watch the professional football debut of his college friend

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...

. He died at Harbor General Hospital in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

. One of the letters received for his funeral was from California Governor Ronald Reagan, who wrote "One thing you know more than anyone is how much better the world is because of your son passed our way.. you have every reason to be proud of him." Rod Dedeaux said, "If Bill Seinsoth had lived, there's a good chance that no one would have ever heard of Steve Garvey." Seinsoth was the subject of a 2016 book by fellow Arcadia High School graduate Steven K. Wagner titled "Seinsoth: The rough-and-Tumble Life of a Dodger" (Sunbury Press).

Times drafted

(Year, Team, Round) *1965,

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, 15th *1967,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

, 9th *1968,

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 ...

, 5th *1969, Washington Senators, 4th *1969,

, 1st

Professional baseball and family relations

He signed with the Dodgers for a $40,000 signing bonus. He played for the

Bakersfield Dodgers Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. Bakersf ...

in 1969, hitting .276 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. His cousin was former

player

Tommy Hutton Thomas George Hutton (born April 20, 1946) is an American former professional baseball infielder-outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos. Hu ...

. His father, also named Bill Seinsoth, played professionally from 1936 to 1950.

References

Los Angeles Times article

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seinsoth, Bill USC Trojans baseball players 1947 births 1969 deaths College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners Baseball players from Los Angeles Bakersfield Dodgers players Road incident deaths in California Arcadia High School (California) alumni Baseball players from Arcadia, California Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players