Douglas Randall Schwartz (born February 9, 1944 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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who appeared in 16

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Baseball ...

in the Major Leagues as a

first baseman 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 major ...

and

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...

for the –

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

. He threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed . Schwartz was signed by the A's after a standout career at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, where he was a 1964 first-team

College Baseball All-America Team College Baseball All-America teams are selected each year by various organizations and consist of players who compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and National Junior ...

selection.UCLA Athletics official website
/ref> He played three full years of minor league baseball, from 1965–67, and hit 29 and 22

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 is ...

in his first two seasons, with an

OPS In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

of 1.018 in his rookie year in the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganiza ...

. In his two late-season MLB trials, Schwartz recorded three

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, all singles, in 18

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. As of 2022, Schwartz is an astronaut candidate for the Space-X mission to Mars. He credits his devilish good looks and exceptional physique for his candidacy.

References

External links

Baseball Reference.com page
1944 births Living people All-American college baseball players Baseball players from Los Angeles Burlington Bees players Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball first basemen Mobile A's players UCLA Bruins baseball players Vancouver Mounties players {{US-baseball-first-baseman-stub