Donald Mark Prince (April 5, 1938 – November 8, 2017) 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. He had a seven-year (1958–1964) active career, but appeared in only one
inning
In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...
of one
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 ...
game for the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
. He stood tall and weighed . He attended
Campbell University
Campbell University is a private Christian university in Buies Creek, North Carolina, United States. Campbell's main campus in Buies Creek is home to its College of Arts & Sciences, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Divinity School, Scho ...
.
Prince's major league audition came after a mediocre 1962 season with the Cubs' Triple-A
Salt Lake City Bees
The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in Salt Lake City, Utah between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time ...
affiliate, where he won 10 of 24 decisions and had a high
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
of 5.31, largely as a
starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
. In his one MLB game, he pitched in
relief
Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
in the ninth inning of a 4–1 loss to the
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 ...
at the
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...
Joe Christopher
Joseph O'Neal Christopher (December 13, 1935 – October 3, 2023) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox from 1959 through 1966. He ...
, then hit the next batter,
Frank Thomas
Frank Edward Thomas Jr. (born May 27, 1968), nicknamed "the Big Hurt," is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for three American League (AL) teams from 1990 to ...
Sammy Drake
Samuel Harrison Drake (October 7, 1934 – January 27, 2010) was a Major League Baseball second and third baseman. He played two seasons with the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1961 and one season with the expansion 1962 New York Mets. Sammy and hi ...
bounced out to second, ending the inning.
Prince then returned to the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
for the 1963 and 1964 seasons before retiring from baseball.
In 1996, Prince was convicted in a
murder-for-hire
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
plot in the Federal District Court in South Carolina. Prince received a -year sentence for attempting to have two people murdered by an undercover police officer he believed to be a hit man.
Prince died in November 8, 2017. He is buried at Hammond Cemetery in
Nichols, South Carolina
Nichols is a town in Marion County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 368 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Nichols is located at (34.232779, -79.148513).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of ...