Donald Antone Hahn (born November 16, 1948) is an American former 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 ...

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 ...

, known primarily for his defensive abilities. Hahn played in

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 ...

(MLB) for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

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 ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Hahn attended Campbell High School in

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-ai ...

. There, along with his studies, he played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. The right-handed throwing and batting Hahn was drafted by the

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

in the 17th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft On April 8, 1969, Hahn played in his first major league game; he was the starting

center fielder 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 ...

in the

' first game. He also was the first fielder in Expo franchise history to field a ball; in the bottom of the first inning, the

Tommie Agee Tommie Lee Agee (August 9, 1942 – January 22, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Mets team that became known as th ...

singled to center field, and Hahn retrieved it and threw the ball to the cutoff man. The game was played at

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

, and the Expos defeated the Mets by a score of 11-10. Hahn's first major league at-bat came in the second inning of the game as he batted eighth in the lineup; he struck out. He went 0-for-3 before being taken out for Don Shaw. Hahn later became quite accustomed to the Shea Stadium

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

grass; a few days before the 1971 MLB season began, the Mets traded

1969 World Series The 1969 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1969 season. The 66th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and the National L ...

hero

Ron Swoboda Ronald Alan Swoboda (born June 30, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Met ...

, along with minor leaguer

Rich Hacker Richard Warren Hacker (October 6, 1947 – April 22, 2020) was an American Major League Baseball player, base coach and scout. Hacker played 16 games for the Montreal Expos in the 1971 season as a shortstop. He had a .121 batting average, with fo ...

, to the Expos, in exchange for the young outfielder. Hahn emerged as the starting center fielder for the pennant-winning Mets of 1973. Hahn started all 12 games for the Mets during post-season play. Earlier in '73, in July, Hahn was involved in a brutal collision in the outfield with

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

George Theodore, which resulted in a dislocated hip for Theodore. Hahn was traded along with Tug McGraw and

Dave Schneck David Lee Schneck (born June 18, 1949) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played parts of three seasons, from 1972 until 1974, with the New York Mets. Early life Schneck was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 19 ...

from the Mets to the

for

Del Unser Delbert Bernard Unser (born December 9, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder and utility player from to , most prominently with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was ...

John Stearns John Hardin Stearns (August 21, 1951 – September 15, 2022), nicknamed "Bad Dude", was an American professional baseball catcher and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets from 1975 to 1984 after playing a singl ...

, and Mac Scarce at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 3, 1974.Durso, Joseph. "Big Deals: McGraw to Phils, Allen to Braves, Lee May to Orioles," ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, December 4, 1974.
Retrieved October 31, 2020

References

External links

Don Hahn
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Don Hahn
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Don 1948 births Living people Baseball players from San Francisco Baseball players from San Jose, California American expatriate baseball players in Canada Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players New York Mets players Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres players Magic Valley Cowboys players Decatur Commodores players Fresno Giants players Vancouver Mounties players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Winnipeg Whips players Tidewater Tides players Phoenix Giants players Campbell High School (California) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen