“I don’t have to steal bases. I steal bases because I want to.” ~ Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Outfielder and Base Stealer
The Oakland Athletics owner, Charles Oscar Finley, known as “Charlie O.” had some different ideas about baseball. He was an advocate of the “Designated Hitter” rule, suggested using orange baseballs, gave some of his players colourful nicknames and handed out $300 bonuses for players that grew moustaches. He changed the Athletics uniforms to Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold, and Wedding Gown White; to complete the “look” they also wore white spikes. He was a marketing genius and had a staff that really had a knack for finding talent. One of his overlooked ideas was signing a “designated runner”. Enter Herbert Lee Washington.
Herb Washington, who was born on November 16, 1951, was a world-class sprinter at Michigan State University who Charlie O signed as their “designated runner” in 1974. He received a signing bonus of $20,000 and a one-year contract of $45,000. Washington also received his $300 “moustache bonus” but needed some help from an eyebrow pencil to “fill it out”. He made his MLB debut on April 4, 1974, and last appeared on May 4, 1975. He “played” in 105 games. He batted and threw right-handed, but neither of those attributes were ever used. He was strictly a “DR”. Herb had 31 stolen bases in 48 attempts for a 65% success rate. He also scored 33 runs. The A’s won the World Series Championship in 1974, so he took home a ring.
(Herb Washington, 1974. Found on the internet. Assuming Public Domain.)
Although Washington had played high school baseball, track was his main concentration. The A’s had Maury Wills, the former Los Angeles Dodger shortstop who stole 104 bases in 1962 (breaking Ty Cobb’s record of 96 which was set in 1915) work with him on his baserunning technique in a six-day crash course. While some of his teammates (Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, and Sal Bando) considered him an exceptional athlete, they doubted his baseball worth. Herb ran through the season with success. He was however, picked off first base in the World Series during game two while pinching running for Joe Rudi by Dodgers reliever Mike Marshall; but in all fairness, that could have happened to anyone. CLICK HERE to see the play.
The experiment with Herb only lasted a year, the A’s picked up Don Hopkins a minor leaguer who played the outfield but was another “designated runner”. Hopkins batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He played in 85 games over two seasons, scored 25 runs and had 21 stolen bases. He also had one hit in 8 plates appearance along with two walks.
Herb Washington did have a Topp’s baseball card in 1975 for his lone season. I saw it online going for $10. After baseball he worked for Michigan Bell in a supervisory position and eventually bought into McDonald franchises. He also founded a minor league hockey team in 2005, the Youngstown SteelHounds that played in the Central Hockey League which eventually folded in 2008 for alleged non-payment of league fees.
Herb is an interesting footnote in baseball history and Charlie O was one of the more colourful owners, together they made an interesting story. If you enjoyed hearing this one, I’ll write about some of the others in future posts.
Thanks,
~ Coach Mike
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Love this story ‼️ Thank you for adding where he is now🙏 Can't wait to read more😉
Interesting story! Thanks Mike for all your comments!