Daniel John Dobbek (December 6, 1934 – November 28, 2023) was an American 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. An

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, he played one full season and parts of two others for the Washington Senators /

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

franchise 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 ...

; his only full major league campaign was in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, as a member of the last edition of the 1901–1960 Washington Senators franchise that moved to the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

for 1961. Dobbek appeared in 110 games for that team, including 58 in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the cen ...

, batting .218 in 288

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 upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

with 10

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 30

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 ...

. Dobbek attended

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

and signed with Washington in 1955. He threw right-handed, batted left-handed, and was listed at and . His first professional season, with the 1956 Hobbs Sports of the Class B

Southwestern League The Southwestern League was the name of four former minor league baseball leagues that operated in the Southwestern United States. The second league, also known as the ''Oklahoma State League'', was in operation for the 1904 season. The third ...

, was his finest: he batted .340 with 23 home runs in 129 games. He then missed the 1957–58 seasons due to military service. After hitting 23 home runs in the

Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

, he was recalled from the Double-A

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

in September 1959. But while Dobbek showed some power during his major league service, he batted only .208 in 198 games and 433

, including a lowly .168 for the Twins in their 1961 debut season in Minnesota. He spent part of that season with the Twins' Triple-A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

affiliate, then was traded in a waiver deal to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

for

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Jerry Zimmerman in January 1962. Dobbek spent the remainder of his playing career in the minors, retiring after the 1963 season. Dobbek also played for the

Elefantes de Cienfuegos Elefantes de Cienfuegos (English: Cienfuegos Elephants) is a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Based in the southern city of Cienfuegos, the Elefantes had their best season in their second year of existence, finishing fourth in the Nati ...

of the

Cuban Winter League The Cuban League (Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the l ...

and was a member of the

1960 Caribbean Series The twelfth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was a baseball tournament held from February 10 through February 15, 1960 featuring the champion teams from Cuba ( Cienfuegos), Panama (Marlboro), Puerto Rico ( Caguas) and Venezu ...

champion team. Dobbek died of congestive heart failure and complications of dementia on November 28, 2023, at the age of 88.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbek, Dan 1934 births 2023 deaths Baseball players from Michigan Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cienfuegos players Hobbs Sports players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball outfielders Minnesota Twins players People from Ontonagon, Michigan San Diego Padres (minor league) players Syracuse Chiefs players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Western Michigan Broncos baseball players Wilson Tobs players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba