Daniel Driessen (born July 29, 1951) is an American former professional

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 ...

player. He played 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) ...

as 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 major ...

from 1973 to 1987, most notably as a member of the

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

dynasty that won three National League pennants and two

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

championships between 1973 and 1976. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Baseball Hall of Fame on June 23, 2012.

Early life

Driessen was born in

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is na ...

as one of eight children, all raised by their mother who worked as a maid. His father died when he was six years old. He attended Michael C. Riley High School (which did not have a baseball team) until his senior year. He then went to Hardeeville High School in Hardeeville, South Carolina, which also did not have a team, but he made a name for himself as a catcher with the town team, the Hardeeville Boll Weevils. His coach, Hal Young, wrote to Major League teams touting Driessen, and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

and Reds showed interest. The Braves passed on him, but the Reds offered him a contract.

Major League career

Driessen was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent in 1969. He made his major-league debut at age 21 on June 9, 1973, in an 8-4 Reds win over the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago W ...

. Starting at third base and batting sixth, he had one hit and one walk in five at-bats. His first career hit was a ninth-inning double off Jack Aker. He had a productive rookie season, hitting .301 with four home runs and 47 runs batted in. Driessen received the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"The Cobra" during his rookie season because of the quick, lethal way his bat struck. He became Cincinnati's starting

third baseman 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 u ...

in 1974, but was soon replaced at that position by

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

. Driessen was part of the Reds'

1975 World Series The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the Natio ...

-winning team, going hitless in two at-bats in the Reds' seven-game win over the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

. In 1976, Driessen became the National League's first-ever

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

in a

. Although he went 0–4 in the series opener against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

, overall he made the most of his opportunity by hitting .357 with five hits (including two doubles and a home run) and two walks in 16 plate appearances as the Reds swept the series for their second consecutive World Series crown. He was the Reds' starting first baseman from 1977 to 1981 after the trade of

Tony Pérez Atanasio "Tony" Pérez Rigal (born May 14, 1942) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and third baseman from through , most notably as a member of the ...

. His most productive year was in 1977 as he hit .300 with 17 home runs and a career-high 91 runs batted in along with a career-high 31 stolen bases. Driessen led all

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

first basemen in fielding three times. He also led the NL in walks with 93 in 1980. He was traded in the middle of the 1984 season to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They p ...

. He saw significant playing time that season as well as in 1985 for the Expos and then, following another mid-season trade, to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. In 1986, his playing time fell significantly as, for the third consecutive season, he played for two teams, the Giants, who released him on May 1, and the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, who signed him on June 2. He was released after the season and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on June 9, 1987. Filling in at first base for the 1987 National League champion Cardinals, in his third

he hit .231 in 14 plate appearances as the Cardinals fell in seven games to the

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) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

. It was Driessen's final major-league season.

Career statistics

In 1732 games over 15 seasons, Driessen compiled a .267

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

(1464-for-5479) with 746 runs, 282 doubles, 23 triples, 153

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 is ...

, 763

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

, 154 stolen bases, 761

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

, .356

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .411

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player ...

. He posted a .992

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

playing at first base, third base, and left and right field. In the post-season, in four

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Nation ...

and three World Series covering 23 games, he batted .212 (14-for-66) with 9 runs, 1 home run and 4 RBI.

Personal life

Driessen married his wife, Bonnie, in 1976 and they raised three daughters. In the early 1990s the family moved from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

to Hilton Head, where Driessen owns and operates Driessen Excavating Services and helps coach the

Hilton Head High School Hilton Head Island High School (shortened to Hilton Head High, HHIHS, or HHH) is a public high school within the Beaufort County School District, located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, United States. The high school serves students on ...

baseball team. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Baseball Hall of Fame on June 23, 2012. He is the uncle of former major-leaguer

Gerald Perry Gerald June Perry (born October 30, 1960) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played from 1983 to 1995 for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career In 1988, ...

References

External links

Dan Driessen
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Driessen, Dan 1951 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from South Carolina Cincinnati Reds players Fort Myers Sun Sox players Houston Astros players Indianapolis Indians players Leones de Yucatán players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball first basemen Montreal Expos players People from Hilton Head, South Carolina San Francisco Giants players St. Louis Cardinals players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Trois-Rivières Aigles players Tucson Toros players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople