Don Blasingame, 73, Infielder with Cards
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Don Blasingame, who played with five major league baseball teams over 12 years and went on to manage for Japanese teams, died Wednesday at his home in Fountain Hills, Ariz. He was 73.
Blasingame, an infielder, signed as an amateur free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1953 and debuted with them on Sept. 20, 1955.
By 1958, he was on the National League’s All-Star roster as a backup second baseman to Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski. Blasingame finished the year with a career-best 10 triples for fifth in the NL.
The next season was one of his best – he had career highs in batting average (.289), hits (178) and doubles (26).
In 1961, he was traded to Cincinnati, He also was with the Washington Senators and Kansas City Athletics, who released him in September 1966.
He finished his major league career with a .258 batting average in 1,444 games – all but 56 at second base.
Blasingame continued as a player in Japan, spending 1967-69 with the defunct Nankai Hawks before joining their coaching staff in 1967 for a 10-year stint that ended in 1978. Then he became manager of the Hiroshima Carp.
In 1979 and 1980, Blasingame managed the Hanshin Tigers, returning to Hiroshima in 1981-82.
