Michael Peter Epstein (born April 4, 1943), nicknamed "Superjew", is an American former professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers,

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

, and

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

of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Early and personal life

Epstein was born in the Bronx,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and is Jewish.Mike Epstein Stats , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref>The Big Book of Jewish Baseball - Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz - Google Books
/ref> His parents were Jack (a salesman, born in Toronto, Canada) and Evelyn (born in New York City). When he was three years old, his family moved to Hartsdale, New York, and then when he was 13 to

Fairfax Fairfax may refer to: Places United States * Fairfax, California * Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California * Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue * Fairfax, Georgia * Fairfax, Indiana * Fa ...

in Los Angeles, California.Mike Epstein , Society for American Baseball Research
/ref> Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience - Peter Levine - Internet Archive
/ref> Epstein said of his father, who refused when Epstein was still a minor to sign a contract on his behalf with the Dodgers: "He wanted me to be a lawyer, rather than a bum."

Amateur career

Epstein played for the baseball and football teams while attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1961. Epstein attended the University of California-Berkeley, where he majored in social psychology and played college baseball for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. He graduated in 1964. Although his .375 batting average in 1963 led to a contract offer by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he decided to finish college. The following year, he batted .384 as a senior and was named an All-American.The Big Book of Jewish Baseball - Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz - Google Books
/ref> He represented the United States in

baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport and consisted of a single game. It was the fifth time that a baseball exhibition had been held, and was the last time that only one game was played. Game The U.S. team of college ba ...

as a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

in Tokyo.

Minor leagues

Epstein played for the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Ba ...

of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

in 1965, and led the league in batting average (.338) and home runs (30; tying a league record set by Vince DiMaggio). He was named the league's most valuable player (MVP). Rival manager

Rocky Bridges Everett Lamar "Rocky" Bridges (August 7, 1927 – January 27, 2015) was a middle infielder and third baseman with an 11-year career in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961. Bridges played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs and St. L ...

nicknamed him "Superjew" for his efforts that season. Epstein played for the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

in 1966, batting .309 with 29 home runs and 102 runs batted in (RBIs), earning him league MVP and Rookie of the Year honors. He was also named an All Star and received ''The Sporting News'' Minor League Player of the Year Award and Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award.

Major leagues

Epstein was first brought up for six games by the Baltimore Orioles in , at the age of 23. After the Orioles tried in vain to convert him to the outfield (they already had Boog Powell at first base), they demoted him to Rochester again. The outspoken Epstein refused to report, going home to California instead. He was traded in May 1967 with

Frank Bertaina Frank Louis Bertaina (April 14, 1944 – March 3, 2010) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from through for the Baltimore Orioles (1964–67, 1969), Washington Senators (1967–69), and St. Louis Cardinals (1970). Liste ...

to the Washington Senators for Pete Richert. Later that season, in his first at-bat against the Orioles, Epstein hit a grand slam. In he was 4th in the league in HBP (9). In with the Senators, in only 403 at bats Epstein hit 30 home runs (ninth in the American League), had 85 runs batted in (RBIs), and hit for a .278 batting average (and .347 with runners in scoring position) with an excellent .414

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 .551

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 was fourth in the league in hit by pitch (10), and he hit a home run every 13.4 at bats. He was 25th in voting for the American League MVP. This was also the only year in which the reconstituted Senators finished above .500. In 1970 he was second in the league in being hit by a pitch (13), while hitting 20 home runs, and leading all AL first basemen in range factor (10.08). In May 1971 he was traded along with Darold Knowles to the

for Frank Fernandez, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash. In 1971, while hitting 18 home runs in 329 at bats, he was hit by a pitch 12 times, leading the league. In he hit 26 home runs (3rd in the league) for the world champion Athletics. He hit a home run every 17.5 at bats (3rd in the AL), had a .490 slugging percentage (5th), a .376 on-base percentage (6th), 62 walks (10th), and was hit by a pitch 11 times (2nd). He was 16th in voting for the American League MVP. Going hitless in 16 at bats during the World Series in addition to his feud with manager

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1 ...

over lack of playing time resulted in the Athletics fulfilling his trade demand by sending him to the Texas Rangers for Horacio Piña on December 1, 1972. Additionally the A's wanted to free up the first base position for Gene Tenace who was the star of that same Fall Classic. Opening batting .188 with one homer and six RBI, he was dealt along with Rich Hand and

Rick Stelmaszek Richard Francis Stelmaszek (October 8, 1948 – November 6, 2017) was an American Major League Baseball catcher, and bullpen coach for the Minnesota Twins. Stelmaszek spent 32 consecutive seasons (–) on the Twins' coaching staff and was the lon ...

from the Rangers to the

for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen on May 20. In 1973 he was seventh in the league in hit by pitch (8). On May 4, , he was released by the Angels. In 907 games over nine seasons, Epstein posted a .244 batting average (695-for-2854) with 362 runs, 130

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 i ...

, 380

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 ...

, 448

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 Se ...

, .358

and .424

. He finished his career with a .991

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 every inning at first base. In 13 postseason games, he hit only .108 (4-for-37) with two runs scored, one home run, one RBI and nine walks. In 1991 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a member of the United States National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Through 2010, he was sixth all-time in career home runs (behind Mike Lieberthal) among Jewish major league baseball players.

After baseball

In 2007, Epstein began a hitting school. His "rotational hitting" instruction has been used around the country, particularly on the West Coast.Hitting - Rotational Hitting - Mike Epstein Rotational Hitting
/ref>

Early and personal life

Amateur career

Minor leagues

Major leagues

After baseball

See also

References

External links