Don Rose

Just before Christmas 1971, Don Rose was included in what many baseball experts consider one of the worst or best trades of all time. Rose went on to play in only 19 big-league games over the next three years for three different teams. But in one of those games, he did something that very few pitchers have ever done in major-league history. He hit a home run in his first major-league at-bat, on the first pitch, and collected his first (and only) big-league victory in the same contest.

Donald Gary Rose was born on March 19, 1947, to R. Porter Rose and Josephine (Delmonego) Rose in Covina, California, a Los Angeles suburb. His father was an apprentice pharmacist at a drugstore, and his mother was a homemaker.1 Older brother Michael was born one year before.

Donald attended Covina High School and earned All-Conference honors in baseball his junior and senior years. His high-school coach was Floyd Roenicke, father of future major leaguers Gary Roenicke and Ron Roenicke, and grandfather to Josh Roenicke, who also played in the majors.

In addition to his four years of high-school baseball, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Rose played football all four years as a linebacker and played basketball one year.

In the summer after Rose’s senior year, his Covina Post 207 baseball squad outlasted the field of 74 teams and captured the annual Anaheim American Legion tournament championship.2

Rose entered Stanford University in the fall of 1965. The next spring he played on Stanford’s freshman team and led them to a 27-1-2 mark. Rose earned first-team honors in the Bay Area Freshman Baseball League, compiling a 9-0 record with an ERA of 0.40 in league play.3 Overall, he was 11-1 with a 0.69 ERA.4

Going into Rose’s sophomore season, coach Dutch Fehring had high hopes for his young      right-hander, and for the whole staff. Said Fehring of Rose, “Don can be one of the best pitchers we ever have had. He has all the pitches.”5

Stanford finished third in the College World Series in Omaha in 1967, losing 4-3 to eventual champion Arizona State in 14 innings in the semifinal round.6 Rose ended the season 5-2 with an ERA of 2.87.

Rose had a bad start to his junior season: He was ineligible after missing some final exams, and sat out the first 20 games of the campaign.7 He still managed to pitch well for the season, finishing with an ERA of 0.41, best in the Pacific Eight conference. He won twice against one loss in conference play, and earned postseason honorable mention.8

As a junior, the Stanford pitcher was selected in the 11th round of the 1968 amateur draft by the New York Mets. He signed with the Mets, thus ending his college career. He was assigned to Memphis in the Double-A Texas League. Rose was roughed up in his first start, lasting only one inning while giving up two hits, five runs (one earned), and a pair of walks. Rose got his only win for Memphis on July 6, pitching a complete game and allowing four hits and two earned runs. He struck out 11 and walked six. Rose’s season ended a few weeks later, when on July 30 he was put on the disabled list with tendinitis in his elbow.9

In December, Rose married Kathleen Kinney at the Methodist Community Church in Los Altos, California. His uncle, Rev. Charles Rose, performed the ceremony, along with Rev. Charles Cox.10

Rose began the 1969 season again with Memphis, but after struggling to an 0-4 record and 4.70 ERA, he was sent to Visalia in the Class-A California League. “[Memphis manager Pete Pavlick] didn’t let me pitch regularly, (so) I asked to be sent down,” he said.11

Rose performed well for Visalia, winning 13 games (tied for fourth in the league). He completed 12 of his 20 starts, ranking third in the circuit. Both numbers were remarkable since he missed the first month of the season while still in Memphis. After the season, Rose pitched for the Mets team in the Florida Instructional League, winning four of five decisions and posting a 2.45 ERA in 44 innings.

The right-hander returned to Memphis for the third straight year in 1970. He was named to the Texas League Eastern Division all-star team and was 7-11 with a 3.09 ERA, third-best in the league. Memphis won the Eastern Division championship but fell to Western Division champion Albuquerque in the Texas League playoffs. Rose and his wife, Kathleen, welcomed daughter Lisa to the family on May 29.12

Rose was promoted to Triple-A Tidewater for the 1971 season. With a record of 11-10, 3.33, he was among the International League’s top five leaders in shutouts (3) and strikeouts (156), and was in the top 10 in victories and ERA. The highlight of his season was a 14-strikeout performance against Winnipeg in August, tying a club record.13 In a September call-up, he pitched two scoreless innings in one game.

In the offseason, Rose’s name popped up in a couple of big-name trade rumors. First came an offer of San Diego’s first baseman Nate Colbert for Rose and two others, but the trade didn’t happen.14 Another rumor had Braves first sacker Orlando Cepeda coming to New York for Rose and a starter, but that also fell through.15

On the last day of the trading period, the California Angels traded Jim Fregosi to the New York Mets for Francisco Estrada, Leroy Stanton, Nolan Ryan, and Rose.16 Fregosi played in 146 games for the Mets before he was sold to the Texas Rangers in July 1973. Estrada never played in the big leagues after the trade. Stanton gave the Angels five solid years, and everyone knows what Nolan Ryan did. California general manager Harry Dalton said, “Rose and Estrada are young prospects, and both have a chance to make our club.”17

Rose was playing winter ball in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, when he got a phone call in his hotel room at 3 A.M. from Joe McDonald, director of minor-league operations for the Mets. McDonald told him about the trade to the Angels and told Rose not to tell anyone. “Who am I going to tell? It’s 3:00 in the morning and everybody here speaks Spanish,” recalled Rose.18

In 1972 Rose went to spring training in Palm Springs hoping to win a spot on the big-league roster, but after making only one appearance (two innings, no runs) he was reassigned to the Angels minor-league camp.19 Rose was moved to Triple-A Salt Lake City. “I kind of knew ahead of time I wasn’t going to make the (Angels) out of spring training,” he said.20

Major-league players went on strike at the start of the season and were out for 13 days. Rose pitched decently at Salt Lake City in his first six starts, winning four against no losses. His reward was to get called up to the majors on May 18 when Andy Messersmith, Clyde Wright, Paul Doyle, Lloyd Allen, and Nolan Ryan were injured.21 California manager Del Rice said, “It’s hard telling what (Rose) will be doing here with our injury situation.”22 But it was expected that Rose would be pitching in relief.

That prediction came true, as the lanky right-hander made three appearances out of the bullpen in his first three days as an Angel and fared well. He pitched four perfect innings, striking out two. Then on May 24, he became part of baseball history.

The beginning of the season had been a struggle for the Angels, and on the morning of the 24th they had a record of 11-21, 10 games behind the AL West-leading Chicago White Sox. The Angels had won back-to-back games only twice in the first six weeks of the ’72 season.

On that Wednesday evening in late May, a small crowd of 3,042 fans saw an exciting game at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium, featuring the scuffling Angels against the eventual 1972 World Series champion Oakland A’s. The weather was fair in the Bay Area, with a game-time temperature in the high 60s.

The game was scoreless when Rose came to the plate in the top of the third with the bases empty and one out. Oakland pitcher Diego Segui sent his first pitch to Rose, who slugged the ball over the left-field fence for a home run.

 “Players always say the game has to slow down, but to my mind, that ball stopped, and I was able to adjust and take a good whack at it. It probably went 400 feet,” Rose remembered years later.23

 After the Angels scored two more runs in the inning, Rose walked to the mound with his head held high in the bottom of the third, leading 3-0. 

California added a run in the top of the fifth, giving the Angels a 4-0 lead. In his first four innings, Rose had allowed three hits and one walk while striking out six. But in the bottom of the fifth, the A’s tied the game on two-run home runs by Joe Rudi and Mike Epstein. The Angels came back and scored twice in the top of the sixth off Vida Blue, and took back the lead, 6-4.

Dave Duncan hit a leadoff homer for the A’s in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 6-5. Rose then settled down and retired the side. His day was done. He pitched six innings, allowed seven hits and five earned runs, walked two, and struck out seven. Steve Barber pitched the final three innings to earn the save for the Angels. Rose took the win for what would turn out to be his only victory in the majors. Blue, making his season debut, ended up with the loss.

“I dreamed last night that I would hit a homer and pitch a shutout in my first start in the big leagues,” Rose said with a laugh after the game. “I didn’t get my shutout but I’m happy nevertheless.”24

Rose became the third pitcher to hit a home run in his first official big-league at-bat and earn his first win in the game. The others were Bill Duggleby (1898) and Hoyt Wilhelm (1952). John Montefusco joined that exclusive club in 1974.25 But when you consider that Rose hit his homer on the first pitch he saw, the company is even more rare. He became the 10th player, and third pitcher, to smash his first offering for a home run.26 “I bet (Montefusco) five dollars that he couldn’t tie my record,” laughed Rose years later.27 Montefusco hit a home run, but not on the first pitch, so Rose won the bet.

Five days later Rose got another start and pitched well against the Chicago White Sox at home, lasting seven innings and giving up five hits, three earned runs, and three walks while striking out six. Although he gave up two home runs, the Angels led 4-2 when Rose exited in the eighth after giving up a home run and a single. Reliever Lloyd Allen coughed up a three-run homer to Bill Melton and the White Sox grabbed a 5-4 lead, which they  held.

Over the next two months, Rose made two more starts – both losses – and nine relief appearances. He was sent down to Salt Lake City to make room for catcher Jack Hiatt.28 Rose had a record of 1-4 with an ERA of 4.22. His main problem was giving up home runs – nine in 42⅔ innings. Rose finished his Triple-A season with an 8-2 record with an ERA of 3.19 in 14 starts.

Rose then played winter ball in Puerto Rico, where he developed an ulcer and lost 35 pounds. For a 6-foot-3 guy who weighs 190 pounds, that’s a pretty big loss. “I had no strength, I had nothing,” recalled Rose. “I couldn’t even run my sprints but eventually I pulled out of it.”29

The next spring, new Angels manager Bobby Winkles praised Rose and Dick Lange for their control and it seemed both had a chance to make the big-league team out of training camp.30 But when cutdown day came, both were sent back to Triple A.

Rose struggled in the early going of the 1973 campaign, posting a record of 1-7 and ERA of 5.47. At the end of June, he was traded along with Bruce Christensen to San Francisco for pitcher Ed Figueroa. Rose spent the whole year at Triple-A Phoenix and went 6-5 with an ERA of 3.16 in 111 innings.

The 1974 season was shaping up to be the same story, but then a key Giants pitcher was injured in a freak accident. Ron Bryant, – the only pitcher in the NL to win 20 games in 1973, received 25 stitches in his right side in a swimming-pool accident in mid-March, giving Rose a chance to join the big-league team. He began the season with San Francisco but didn’t get into a game until April 20, in the Giants’ 15th game of the season.

He ended up pitching in only two games for San Francisco, mostly because Bryant returned on April 26. In Rose’s first game, on the 20th, he pitched one inning in relief and allowed one hit in a 4-2 loss to Los Angeles. Three days later, he was rocked in an 8-4 loss to Montreal. Rose faced four batters, yielding three hits and a walk. “I was disappointed that I didn’t get much work while I was with the big club,” said Rose. “They told me I’d have all the work I could handle, but it was 15 days into the season before I got into a game.”31

The game on April 23 was Rose’s last in the major leagues.

Rose said, “Charlie Fox (Giants manager) called me in and told me, ‘We’ve seen enough’ and they sent me down. I just lost all interest and I felt (playing in the majors) just wasn’t going to happen for me.”32

Rose was shipped back to Phoenix on May 11 and pitched decently, going 9-6 with an ERA of 3.81, third best in the league. He had some arm issues during the season and missed a couple of starts but performed well otherwise. One good piece of news: Rose and his wife welcomed their second child, a son, Brian, on June 18.33

Rose began spring training with the Giants in 1975, but was sent down to Phoenix, where he pitched all season. He made 21 starts among his 34 appearances and struggled, posting a record of 7-16 and a ERA of 6.30.

During the offseason, Rose retired from baseball and worked at a few odd jobs before re-enrolling at Stanford. He worked at National Semiconductor (on the 3-to-midnight shift) while finishing up his political-science degree.

After graduation, Rose took a customer-service job at the company, working in Santa Clara, California. Rose continued in the computer business in various roles, including as a senior operations manager for Hitachi, meeting with factory management to plan the output and enhance the supply chain. In addition, he was responsible for importing, warehousing, and distribution. Rose also met with large customers, such as GM, to discuss their material needs. He retired in 2005. 

As of 2024, Don and Kathleen resided in the San Diego area, They celebrated their 55th anniversary in December 2023. They have three grandsons.

Notes

1 US Census Bureau, 1950 US Census.

2 Mike Kelly, “Covina Captures Legion Tournament Crown,” Anaheim Bulletin, August 30, 1965: B2.

3 “Indian Nine Tops Frosh Star Squad,” Oakland Tribune, May 27, 1966: 58.

4 Reed Nessel, “Make Room for Fabulous Frosh Athletes,” Palo Alto (California) Times, June 2, 1966: 30.

5 Dick O’Connor, “Cards Blessed with Best-Ever Mound Staff,” Palo Alto Times, February 22, 1967: 37.

6 Dick O’Connor, “‘We’ll Be Back’: Stanford Coach,” Palo Alto Times, June 19, 1967: 29.

7 Dick O’Connor, “Shank Pitches 2-Hit Shutout,” Palo Alto Times, February 24, 1968: 17.

8 “Shank Named All-Pacific 8,” Redwood City (California) Tribune, June 5, 1968: 18.

9 Bill E. Burk, “Blues’ Fans Find the Action,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, July 30, 1968: 18.

10 Kathleen Kinney-Donald Rose wedding announcement, Palo Alto Times, December 25, 1968: 18.

11 Bill E. Burk, “Blues Begin Chase for Texas League Flag,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, April 17, 1970: 18.

12 Bill E. Burk, “Gags Not Surprised at Trade to Cubs,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, May 30, 1970: 9.

13 “Tides, 5-1,” Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, August 21, 1971: B-4.

14 Dick Young, “Hot Stove Confidential,” New York Daily News, December 2, 1971: 131.

15 “King-to-Angels Still Only Rumor,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 7, 1971: 6-B.

16 Joe Trimble, “Big Deal! Mets Trade 4 for Fregosi,” New York Daily News, December 11, 1971: 28.

17 “Jim Fregosi Traded to N.Y. Mets,” Anaheim Bulletin, December 10, 1971: A1.

18 Don Rose, telephone interview with author, January 11, 2024.

19 “Ryan Wild on Mound; A’s Whip Angels, 6-0,” Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1972: 3, 2.

20 Don Rose, telephone interview with author, January 11, 2024.

21 “Angels Upset Oakland, Mound Injuries Persist,” Barstow (California) Desert Dispatch, May 19, 1972: 4.

22 Steve Jones, “Angels Win, but Dalton’s Hurlers Need Blue Cross,” Anaheim Bulletin, May 19, 1972: C-5.

23 Don Rose, telephone interview with author, January 11, 2024.

24 “Vida Pitches but Can’t Hold Out,” Anaheim Bulletin, May 25, 1972: C1.

25 https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats5.shtml.

26 https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats6.shtml.

27 Don Rose, email correspondence with author, January 12, 2024.

28 Don Merry, “May 4-Hitter Halts Texans,” Long Beach (California) Independent Press-Telegram, July 30, 1972: S-4.

29 Don Rose, telephone interview with author, January 11, 2024.

30 “Angel Duo Bidding to fill Spots,” Escondido (California) Daily Times-Advocate, March 5, 1973: A-11.

31 Bob Eger, “Rose Ready, Hurls Tonight,” Arizona Republic (Phoenix), May 20, 1974: C1.

32 Don Rose, telephone interview with author, January 11, 2024.

33 Bob Eger, “Giants Lose to ‘New’ Hudson, 6-3,” Arizona Republic, June 20, 1974: E1.