David Thomas Van Gorder (March 27, 1957 – February 4, 2025) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

. He played parts of five seasons in the majors for 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 ...

and

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 ...

from 1982 to 1987. Van Gorder was originally drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in the ninth round of the 1974 MLB draft, but he opted to play college ball at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, where he led the team in hitting with a .339 average in 1977 and helped the Trojans win the

1978 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament The 1978 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1978 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Serie ...

, earning All-American honors. He was subsequently drafted by the Reds in the second round of the 1978 amateur draft. Van Gorder made his MLB debut for the Reds on June 15, 1982, catching for future Hall-of-Famer

Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cin ...

. He spent the 1983 season back in the minors and then parts of the next three seasons with the Reds. The Reds released Van Gorder after the 1986 season and he signed with the

, but played sporadically and after being demoted to the minors in July he chose to retire. Van Gorder died in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, on February 4, 2025, at the age of 67.

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1957 births 2025 deaths Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Los Angeles Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cincinnati Reds players Denver Zephyrs players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball catchers Nashville Sounds players Rochester Red Wings players USC Trojans baseball players Wichita Aeros players American expatriate baseball players in Italy Grosseto Baseball Club players Anchorage Glacier Pilots players {{US-baseball-catcher-1950s-stub