Michael Wayne Reinbach (August 6, 1949 – May 20, 1989) was a

corner 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 ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

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 ...

who played 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 ...

in its 1974 season. Listed at 6' 2", 195 lb., Reinbach batted left handed and threw right handed. He was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

.MLB statistics and history
''Baseball Reference''. Retrieved on July 21, 2016.

Career and life

Reinbach was selected by the Orioles in the 1970 MLB draft out of

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where he played for their

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

baseball team. His rise through the Orioles

Minor League 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 ...

system was highlighted by a splendid 1972 season, hitting a .348

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 31

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 113 RBI, and a 1.087

OPS OPS may refer to: Organizations * Obscene Publications Squad, a former unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England * Oceanic Preservation Society * Office of Public Safety, a former US government agency * Orchestre philharmonique de Strasb ...

between AA and AAAMiLB statistics
''Baseball Reference (Minor and Japanese leagues)''. Retrieved on July 21, 2016. while being named Southern League

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

, to become the first player to win this award in the league's history. He appeared in 12 games in his only season at Baltimore, going 5-for-20 for a .250 average with a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, two runs and two RBI. Reinbach opened 1975 at Triple A

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 Fie ...

, where he batted .290 with 11 home runs and 62 RBI and was selected to 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 (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

All-Star team. He then joined the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

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 ...

during five seasons spanning 1976–1980, becoming immediately a Tigers fans favorite for his timely hitting and solid play at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. Overall, Reinbach hit .296 with 94 homers and 324 RBI in 545 games for Hanshin and earned Best Nine Award honors in 1979.Mike Reinbach article
''Baseball Card Breakdown''. Retrieved on July 21, 2016. In six minor league seasons, Reinbach hit .284 with 68 homers and 331 RBI in 674 games. In between, he played winter ball with the

Navegantes del Magallanes Navegantes del Magallanes B.B.C., commonly known as Navegantes del Magallanes (; ''Strait of Magellan, Magellan Navigators''), or simply Magallanes, are a professional baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), based in ...

club of the Venezuelan League during the 1973-74 tournament.Venezuelan Winter League statistics
''Pura Pelota''. Retrieved on July 21, 2016. Reinbach retired after his 1980 season at Japan and spent most of the decade as a pioneer in the burgeoning home computer industry. He was killed in an automobile accident in 1989, when his car went off a precipice in

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, California. The city is located in the Colorado Desert arm of the Sonoran Desert, about east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The popula ...

while driving to

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. He was 39 years old.

Sources

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinbach, Mike 1949 births 1989 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Asheville Orioles players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from San Diego Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Hanshin Tigers players Major League Baseball outfielders Miami Marlins (FSL) players Navegantes del Magallanes players Road incident deaths in California Rochester Red Wings players UCLA Bruins baseball players University of California, Los Angeles alumni Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players