Douglas Vernon DeCinces ( ; born August 29, 1950) 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 ...

player. He 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) as a

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 Baseball scorekeep ...

from 1973 to 1987 for the

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 ...

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

and

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 ...

. He also played for one season in the

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

league for the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

in 1988. In 1982, DeCinces won the

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best Batting (baseball), offensive player at each Baseball positions, position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (baseball), National League (NL), as determ ...

, which is awarded annually to the best

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

player at each

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

, and was a member of the 1983 American League All-Star team. In 2006, he was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.

Amateur career

DeCinces played PONY League Baseball and Colt League Baseball in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

, with fellow major league player Dwight Evans. He attended and played at Monroe High School in

Sepulveda, California North Hills, known previously as Sepulveda, is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. North Hills was originally part of an agricultural community known as Mission Acres. After World War II, the newly dev ...

and

Los Angeles Pierce College Los Angeles Pierce College, shortened to Pierce College or simply Pierce, is a public community college in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College Distri ...

, and is in Pierce College's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Minor leagues

DeCinces came up through the Orioles system, playing for the

Asheville Orioles The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It is located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different ...

under manager Cal Ripken Sr. DeCinces famously rescued a pre-teen

Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed "the Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire 21-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). ...

during a pre-game incident involving a teenager firing a rifle into the air adjacent to the stadium where the Orioles played, causing panic amongst those on the field. Ripken Jr. (who was the team's bat boy at the time) was taken away to safety by DeCinces when the gunshots began.

Baltimore Orioles

He began his major league career at the age of 23 with the

late in the 1973 season. When the Orioles'

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

third baseman,

Brooks Robinson Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr. (May 18, 1937 – September 26, 2023) was an American baseball player who played his entire 23-year career in Major League Baseball as a third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. Nicknamed "Mr. Hoove ...

, retired at the end of the 1977 season, DeCinces was given the difficult task of replacing the legendary player. Despite initial hostility from some Orioles fans as Robinson's replacement, he endured to play for the Orioles for a total of nine seasons. On June 22, 1979, DeCinces hit a game-winning home run at Memorial Stadium off

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

reliever Dave Tobik. The Orioles were trailing the Tigers 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out,

Ken Singleton Kenneth Wayne Singleton (born June 10, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter from to , most prominently as a member ...

hit a solo home run off Tobik to bring the Orioles within one.

Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

reached base on a single, and, with two outs, DeCinces hit a two-run home run to give the Orioles a 6-5 victory. The win has been called "the night Oriole Magic was born." DeCinces said years later that the game and his home run "triggered something" and that "the emotion just multiplied from there," adding that the ensuing atmosphere of excitement was in no small part due to the excited call of the home run by announcers Bill O'Donnell and Charley Eckman on the Orioles' radio network. The Orioles went on to win the American League pennant in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. DeCinces tagged out

Dan Ford Darnell Glenn Ford (born May 19, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Disco Dan", he played in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder from 1975 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins, California Angels, and Baltimor ...

who was attempting to advance to third base on a

force play In baseball, a force play or force out occurs when a runner is required to advance to a base which a player on the opposing team has already reached while in possession of the ball. There are two situations in which a force play occurs: One, a ...

that ended Game 2 of the

1979 American League Championship Series The 1979 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five series that was the semifinal on the American League side of the 1979 postseason, which pitted the East Division champion Baltimore Orioles against the West Division champion Califo ...

. In 1981, DeCinces got into a feud with teammate

Jim Palmer James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...

after DeCinces missed a line drive hit by

Alan Trammell Alan Stuart Trammell ( ; born February 21, 1958) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the Detroit Tigers for the entirety of his 20-year p ...

in a game against the Tigers. According to DeCinces, Palmer "was cussing me out and throwing his hands in the air" after the play. "Those balls have to be caught," Palmer told a paper. "Doug is reluctant to get in front of a ball." "I'd like to know where Jim Palmer gets off criticizing others," DeCinces responded. "Ask anybody–they're all sick of it. We're a twenty-four man team–and one prima donna. He thinks it's always someone else's fault." The feud simmered until June, when manager

Earl Weaver Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball manager, author, and television broadcaster. After playing in minor league baseball, he retired without playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). He be ...

said, "I see no cause for concern. The third baseman wants the pitcher to do a little better and the pitcher wants the third baseman to do a little better. I hope we can all do better and kiss and make up...The judge gave me custody of both of them." Palmer ultimately blamed Robinson for the dispute: "If Brooks hadn't been the best third-baseman of all time, the rest of the Orioles wouldn't have taken it for granted that any ball hit anywhere within the same county as Brooks would be judged perfectly, fielded perfectly, and thrown perfectly, nailing (perfectly) what seemed like every single opposing batter."

California Angels

Both DeCinces and Ford were exchanged for each other in a trade that also sent Jeff Schneider from the Orioles to the Angels and was announced on January 28, 1982.Boswell, Thomas. "Orioles Give Up DeCinces for Ford," ''The Washington Post'', Friday, January 29, 1982.
Retrieved October 31, 2020 The deal was delayed when Ford requested additional compensation because the Orioles were not one of six teams listed in his contract to which he could be traded without approval. The transaction became official upon his approval two days later on January 30. DeCinces' departure allowed rookie

to become the Orioles' new starting

. In 1982, DeCinces hit three home runs in a game twice within a five day span for the Angels, first on August 3 in a 5-4 loss 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

, and also on August 8 in a 9-5 victory over the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. DeCinces was a member of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

All Star Team in 1983.

St. Louis Cardinals

Released by the Angels on September 23, 1987, he concluded his major league career by playing in four games for the

late in the 1987 season.

Japan

In 1988 DeCinces played for the

in Japan's

Nippon Pro Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

. His experiences in Japan led to him being hired as a consultant for the 1992 film ''

Mr. Baseball ''Mr. Baseball'' is a 1992 American sports comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi, starring Tom Selleck, Ken Takakura, Dennis Haysbert, and Aya Takanashi. It depicts a tumultuous season in the career of veteran New York Yankees first baseman ...

'', about a veteran American ballplayer who is traded to a Japanese baseball club and is forced to contend with overwhelming expectations and cultural differences during the team's run at the pennant.

Career summary and statistics

DeCinces played for 15 seasons (1973–1987) in the major leagues for three different teams, including nine years with the Orioles and six years with the Angels. He twice finished in the top 25 voting for the American League Most Valuable Player, finishing third in 1982 and 11th in 1986 while playing for the California Angels. In 1982 he won the Silver Slugger Award, and in 23 postseason games, including three ALCS series and one World Series, he batted .270 (24-for-89) with 13 runs, 2 home runs and 9 RBI. DeCinces was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame on August 26, 2006.

Insider trading trial

On August 4, 2011, DeCinces, along with three others, was charged by the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC) with

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

ahead of a company buyout. In a civil suit, the SEC alleged that DeCinces and his associates made more than $1.7 million in illegal profits when Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories Inc. announced its plan to purchase Advanced Medical Optics Inc. through a

tender offer In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corp ...

. Without admitting or denying the allegations, DeCinces agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle the SEC's charges. In November 2012, DeCinces received a criminal indictment on insider trading related to the same incident and was charged with securities fraud and money laundering. On May 12, 2017, after a nearly two-month trial, a federal court jury in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

, found him guilty on 13 felony counts. He was also called to testify in the trial of others implicated in the insider trading case. On August 12, 2019, DeCinces was sentenced to eight months of home detention and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Former Angels teammate

Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman, first baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minneso ...

extolled DeCinces' charitable contributions at the sentencing, telling the court, "I am here because he has done so much more for other people".

References

External links

, o
SABR BioProject
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decinces, Doug 1950 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan American League All-Stars American sportspeople convicted of crimes Asheville Orioles players Baltimore Orioles players Bluefield Orioles players California Angels players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players LAPC Brahma Bulls baseball players Major League Baseball third basemen People convicted of insider trading Baseball players from Burbank, California Sportspeople from Laguna Beach, California Rochester Red Wings players Silver Slugger Award winners St. Louis Cardinals players Yakult Swallows players