Don Leppert

Don Leppert signed his first professional contract shortly after his 23rd birthday, scouted on Korean War-era military-service teams in a sport he had not intended to play as a pro. He reached the majors a few months before his 30th birthday, when the defending World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates sought to strengthen their bench.

He was right on time for a 41-year career as a player, coach, manager, and coordinator. Leppert homered his first time up in the major leagues, hit three home runs in another game, made an American League All-Star team, and coached first base on a World Series winner, while earning esteem as a catcher, brawler, mentor, and outdoorsman.

Donald George Leppert1 was born on October 19, 1931, at the Indianapolis home of his parents, William and May Leppert.2 His father worked as a factory machinist and tool and die maker,3 and his mother sold cosmetics for Avon.4

Leppert’s love of the outdoors developed during childhood. “My father was a great outdoorsman,” he noted in 1972. “I’ve gone along ever since I was old enough.”5 Later coverage of Leppert’s baseball career frequently referenced his outdoor pursuits, including winter goose and deer hunting, ice fishing, and in-season fishing trips.6

Leppert graduated from Washington High School on Indianapolis’s West Side in 1949.7 He played baseball for the Continentals and also distinguished himself in football.8 Leppert was described as Washington’s “husky left half” and “chief offensive weapon” in a 1948 loss to West Lafayette High School. West Lafayette’s “strong-armed” halfback, Bob Friend, was Leppert’s batterymate in his major-league debut 13 years later.9

He enrolled at Wabash College, a private, all-male liberal arts college in Crawfordsville, Indiana.10 The brawny, 6-foot-2 Leppert competed in football and track at Wabash.11

“I never had any intention of playing pro baseball,” Leppert recalled. “I didn’t even go out for baseball in college. I always considered football my best sport and in the spring I was [in javelin and discus] on the track team.”12

Leppert was a pre-law student at Wabash, but when the Korean War began in June 1950,13 he enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Japan as a military policeman.14

He played football and threw discus for Air Force teams in Japan.15 He also got back into baseball, catching for a Nagoya Air Base team that won the Far East Air Force title in 1953. The military newspaper Stars & Stripes praised Leppert for his play in the championship game, where he scored the game-winning run.16

A spot on the military all-star team that played the New York Giants on their barnstorming tour to Japan after the 1953 season brought about Leppert’s opportunity in professional baseball.17

“[Leo Durocher] was the [Giants] manager and he, or somebody must have remembered me,” Leppert said in 1961. “I came home from the service and intended to go back and finish school, but a Giant scout called me.”18

Leppert’s service in Japan left him two months short of an honorable discharge.19 He went to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, where he played for the base’s baseball team, the Carswell Bombers, and drew more attention from professional scouts.20

His time as a Bomber included one of the hallmarks of his playing and coaching career: an active role in on-field fights. In a game against Texas Christian University in March 1954, the Horned Frogs’ Les Mattison slammed into Leppert at home after they had argued during Mattison’s time at bat. As the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported, “fists began swinging” between Leppert and Mattison, leading to a bench-clearing brawl.21

Six big-league teams pursued Leppert while he was on the Bombers.22 He signed with the Milwaukee Braves on the day of his military discharge in February 1955.23 Developing catchers was a Braves’ priority; a 1962 Milwaukee Journal article listed Leppert among 11 then-active major-league backstops who had been with Milwaukee’s organization.24

From the earliest days of Leppert’s career, Braves leadership heralded his big-league potential. Bob Coleman, a Deadball Era catcher in the 1910s and a major-league manager in the 1940s, was Leppert’s first minor-league manager, with the Evansville Braves of the Class-B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in 1955. Coleman called Leppert a “cinch to make the major leagues.”25 “I don’t know how much he’ll hit, but he has power,” the manager observed.26

A year later in Triple A, Wichita Braves manager George Selkirk, who had played on five World Series champion teams with the New York Yankees, and coach Johnny Riddle, a former major-league catcher, echoed Coleman’s forecast.

“Leppert is a long-hitter and has all the earmarks of becoming a major-leaguer,” Selkirk said.27

But Milwaukee struggled to get Leppert consistent playing time, owing to his relative lack of experience for his age. In 1955 he served as Evansville’s backup catcher for the season’s first month and a half, before getting reassigned to the Corpus Christi (Texas) Clippers of the Class-B Big State League.28

At Triple A in 1956, Leppert played infrequently in the last two months of the season, stuck behind three catchers with broader professional backgrounds.29 “He has only two years of professional baseball behind him and the wisdom needed for catching maturity doesn’t come quick,” the Austin American summarized in 1957.30

Still, Leppert made his abilities apparent. He homered in his second professional plate appearance with Evansville in May 1955 and hit .349 with 3 home runs in 43 at-bats with the team.31

His playing time increased at Corpus Christi, where the Clippers won the Little Dixie Series by sweeping the West Texas-New Mexico League champs, the Pampa Oilers, in four games.32 Leppert hit a grand slam in Game Three of the Little Dixie Series and drove in the go-ahead run in Game Four.33 He hit .239 with 10 home runs in 58 games with Corpus Christi.

Even while buried on Wichita’s depth chart in 1956, Leppert showed potential. He hit a 400-foot home run in the second-ever game at Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium.34 On a visit to his hometown of Indianapolis, Leppert caught Joey Jay’s two-hit shutout, tagged out Roger Maris at home, and drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly.35

During the 1956-57 offseason, Leppert played for the Mexico City Aztecas in the Winter Veracruz League,36 but his season ended early when he was hit in the face by a foul ball, fracturing his cheekbone.37 Nevertheless, it was the first of many winters he spent in Latin American leagues as a player, coach, and manager.38

Leppert went down a classification in 1957, to the Double-A Texas League’s Austin Senators. He won the Senators’ starting catching job in spring training.39

“I’m gambling on Leppert’s hitting because hitting and the long ball are what we need,” manager Sibby Sisti, a 13-season big-league player, said in April 1957.40

Leppert validated Sisti’s judgment. He led the ’57 Senators with 20 home runs, despite chronic injuries. His right hand was frequently battered by foul tips.41 A knee injury resulted in an offseason knee operation in Indianapolis.

“The knee was in a mess but the doctor and those nurses had me up and walking down the hallway in four hours,” Leppert recalled in March 1958.42

However swift his treatment was, Leppert did stay in the hospital long enough to meet 20-year-old Daphine Hope, a Kentucky native who worked there.43 Their courtship moved quickly during the 1957-58 offseason, and Don and Daphine were married in Austin, Texas, on April 9.44

Leppert’s toils as a catcher often led to a trainer’s table or doctor’s office or involved enduring physical pain on the field.45 Most frequent were injuries to his hands. Newspapers reported Leppert being sidelined or impaired by hand, finger, or thumb injuries in nine of his 12 professional seasons.46

His hand troubles were most persistent in 1958, his second year in Austin.47 “[T]he bad thumb on his left hand keeps getting bruised and he’s an uncertainty at the plate because he can’t swing the bat with authority as bruised as his hands are,” the Austin American reported.48 Leppert was batting .319 on May 11,49 but injuries dragged his final average to .229.50

After the 1958 season, on November 10, Don and Daphine’s first son, Steve, was born. They had four more children: Kimberly (born in 1960),51 Mike (1961),52 Joe (1964),53 and Tim (1970).54 Steve Leppert played in the Cincinnati Reds system for three seasons in the 1980s.

Around the time that Leppert became a father, he considered moving on from baseball.55 A February 1959 article in the Paducah (Kentucky) Sun-Democrat indicated that a conversation with Braves farm director John Mullen had convinced him to stick with his career.56

But his time in Milwaukee’s organization was almost up. Leppert went to spring training with the Braves’ Triple-A club in 1959 before getting reassigned to Austin.57 The Senators then sold him to the Dallas Rangers, an unaffiliated expansion club in the American Association.58 He was no longer property of the Braves, but he was back in Triple A.

Leppert remained relatively healthy in 1959 and caught 119 games, his most of any professional season.59 His .271 overall batting average was his highest yet.

The National and American Leagues’ attempt to block a potential rival league, the Continental League, from the Dallas-Fort Worth area led to both cities jointly operating an American Association club in 1960.60 The rebranded Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers were affiliated with the Kansas City Athletics, and they owned 17 of the ’59 Rangers outright, including Leppert.61

On a team managed by former big-league catcher Jim Fanning – Leppert’s manager in Venezuela during the 1959-60 offseason – Leppert was again the primary catcher. His 17 home runs topped the Rangers and his 63 RBIs were second on the team.

Less than a year from his 30th birthday and now with two children, Leppert weighed options outside of baseball.62 But a December 1960 transaction turned out to be his breakthrough. The Triple-A International League’s Columbus Jets, a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, acquired him in a minor-league deal with the Rangers.63 Two months earlier, Pittsburgh had won its first World Series since 1925.

As with John Mullen before the 1959 season, mentoring from a baseball executive helped to persuade Leppert to continue in the game. This time, his mentor was Pirates general manager Joe L. Brown.

In a June 1961 interview, Leppert recounted Brown’s advice from spring training: “With expansion as it is now and with maybe even more in the future, baseball offers more and more opportunities, not only for more players, but with more clubs they’re going to need more managers, coaches, scouts, and front-office people.”64

A game out of first place on May 24, the ’61 Pirates lost 11 of their next 16 and sank to fourth.65 The club’s pinch-hitting and backup catching struggled.66 In Columbus, Leppert was leading the league in batting average at .386.67 League managers chose him unanimously for the league’s all-star game, scheduled for late June.68

By then, however, Leppert no longer was at Triple A. Brown remade the Pirates’ bench at the June 15 trading deadline, and Leppert’s contract was purchased.69

On June 18 Leppert was catching and batting seventh in the opener of a Sunday doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field, in a battery with veteran right-hander Friend, his high-school football foe from Indiana. Of the 112 players to debut in the majors in 1961, Leppert was fourth oldest.70

Leppert made his first trip to a big-league batter’s box with one out in the second. Five pitches passed without a swing, and the count was full.71 Lefty Curt Simmons, a 14-year veteran, threw a curveball, and Leppert drove it into Forbes Field’s left-field light tower.72 He was the 32nd player in NL or AL history to homer in his first major-league at-bat.73

Leppert remained in the majors for the rest of the 1961 season, recording a .267 average and three homers in 22 games. In 1962 he made a major-league Opening Day roster for the first time, backing up Smoky Burgess. Leppert played in 45 games in 1962, hitting .266 with three home runs. On April 24, his two-run, opposite-field homer against emerging San Francisco Giants star Juan Marichal put the Pirates ahead to stay in a 7-3 win.74

An enduring thread in Leppert’s minor-league days was his involvement in baseball brawls, dating to 1955, when a local newspaper documented him as “leading the combatants” after a fight broke out in a Big State League game in 1955.75 His reputation as an enforcer continued to grow in the majors.

After a 1961 Pirates-Philadelphia Phillies skirmish, teammate Harvey Haddix recounted, “That Leppert was all over the place. He came out and was trying to pry someone apart when he got hit. Then he just went swinging at every white uniform within range.”76

The Pirates traded Leppert to the Senators for a minor-league pitcher and cash in December 1962,77 reuniting him with Selkirk, who had become Washington’s general manager.78 In the 1963 season’s third game, on April 11, the Senators faced Boston Red Sox righty Ike Delock at Washington’s D.C. Stadium. Leppert, using a 31-ounce bat – three ounces lighter than his regular model because of a shipping mistake79 – drove a Delock fastball into the second deck in left field for a solo home run in the fourth inning.

He added a three-run blast off lefty Chet Nichols in the sixth and a 410-foot solo homer against Nichols in the eighth. It was the first three-homer game for the Senators, in their third season as an expansion franchise. Leppert also caught starter Tom Cheney’s one-hit, one-walk, 10-strikeout shutout that night.80

Through mid-May, Leppert started a majority of the Senators’ games. He homered off Detroit Tigers lefty Hank Aguirre on May 1.81 The next time the Senators faced the Tigers, on May 18, Leppert hit another home run against Aguirre, giving him five for the season. An inning later, Aguirre hit Leppert on the elbow with a pitch, and he missed the next 11 games.82 Dragged down by injuries, Leppert batted only .207 after May 18, with just one more home run.

In the meantime, Leppert achieved an unexpected distinction. Yankees manager Ralph Houk was picking the reserves for the AL All-Star team. Houk had to select an All-Star from the Senators, who were headed for 106 losses and the worst record in the AL, and he wanted a third catcher. He chose Leppert for the July 9 game in Cleveland.83

With the AL trailing the NL by two runs in the ninth, Leppert was on deck to hit for New York’s Tom Tresh, but Bobby Richardson grounded into a game-ending double play, and Leppert did not get to bat.84

Another injury sidetracked Leppert’s 1964 from the start. Three days before Opening Day, he broke his right thumb catching batting practice.85 He hit .156 in 50 games while rookie Mike Brumley took over Washington’s starting job. Leppert’s season highlight was a home run off Hall of Fame-bound Whitey Ford on July 10 at D.C. Stadium, denying Ford a shutout.86

Leppert spent 1965 in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League with the Hawaii Islanders. The Islanders played in Honolulu Stadium. Only two players had ever hit home runs over the left-field bleachers: one in a local league in the 1930s, and Joe DiMaggio twice for a military service team in 1944.87 In April 1965, Leppert became the third player – and the first in a professional game – to clear the left-field bleachers, against Paul Lindblad of the Vancouver Mounties.88

Still, Leppert’s time as a big-leaguer appeared to have passed. Newspapers rumored that he was considering playing in Japan.89 He again contemplated leaving baseball entirely. “I was the night terminal manager for Greyhound in my hometown of Indianapolis, and the job seemed to have a good future,” he said in 1980.90

His doorway to major-league coaching was the same for his big-league playing career: the Pittsburgh Pirates. Larry Shepard, Columbus’s manager when Leppert played there in 1961, still piloted Pittsburgh’s Triple-A club. He contacted Leppert and offered a leadership role as a player-coach. Leppert accepted the opportunity, and Columbus purchased him in November 1965.91

Leppert concluded his playing career with a .229 batting average in 66 games with the ’66 Jets. More relevant for his baseball future were his coaching duties in Columbus.92 The Pirates and Braves contacted Leppert about managing in the minors in 1967,93 and he accepted an offer for Pittsburgh’s Gastonia (North Carolina) club in the Class-A Western Carolinas League. Gastonia came in at 61-59, second in the league but 17½ games behind the first-place Spartanburg Phillies.

On October 13, Shepard, who had served as the Philadelphia Phillies’ pitching coach in 1967, was hired as Pittsburgh’s manager.94 Four days later, Leppert returned to the majors when Shepard added him to the coaching staff.95

The move was the beginning of a long tenure in Pittsburgh for Leppert. He remained on the coaching staff when Shepard was fired and replaced by Danny Murtaugh after the 1969 season.96 When Murtaugh retired, Bill Virdon was hired after Pittsburgh won the 1971 World Series.97 Then the Pirates fired Virdon and brought back Murtaugh during their unsuccessful bid to win the NL East Division in 1973.98 Leppert stayed on the staff during all the managerial changes.

Leppert coached in the bullpen in 1968 and 1969, then he was moved to first base from 1970 through 1973. He returned to the bullpen from 1974 through 1976.99 He made headlines in Game Four of the 1971 World Series because of his animated argument with the umpires, who had ruled Roberto Clemente’s deep drive to right a foul ball instead of a home run.100

Leppert’s reputation for developing young catchers began to grow with the Pirates. In 1969, 25-year-old Manny Sanguillén won Pittsburgh’s starting job in his first full major-league season. Sanguillén, who praised Leppert’s coaching, served as the Pirates’ primary backstop through 1976.101 Three young catchers whom Leppert coached with the Toronto Blue Jays – Alan Ashby, Rick Cerone, and Ernie Whitt – went on to catch more than 1,200 games in the majors apiece.102 Leppert’s approach included tracking pitchers’ and catchers’ release times, measured to hundredths of a second, in order to counter stolen-base attempts.103

Becoming a coach did not end Leppert’s days of on-field fights. A 1973 Pittsburgh Press article discussing “tough” athletes highlighted Leppert, “the 6-[foot]-1, 215-pounder [who] has biceps that bulge when his arms are at his side even though he is 41-years-old.”104

“I don’t know of any fights that Leppert has started,” Virdon added. “[B]ut he has ended quite a few.”105

Leppert was heavily involved in a heated Pirates-Reds encounter in July 1974. He kicked Cincinnati’s Darrel Chaney hard enough to tear the Reds infielder’s uniform pants, then got wrestled to the ground and punched by Chaney. Later in the scuffle, Leppert’s tight grip on César Gerónimo led manager Sparky Anderson to plead for him to release Gerónimo.106

Even after his 50th birthday, Leppert was active in fights, delivering what the Houston Post labeled a “haymaker” to Derrel Thomas in a June 1983 Astros-Dodgers bench-clearing brawl. He also accused the Giants’ Dusty Baker of giving him a “cheap shot” in an August 1984 skirmish.107

While with the Pirates, Leppert managed winter ball teams in Venezuela.108 Newspapers occasionally suggested him as a future Pirates manager.109 Soon after the 1976 season ended and Murtaugh retired, however, the Pirates informed Leppert that he was “no longer under consideration [for manager and was] free to go ahead and try to get a job with someone else.”110

He had a new job within days. The Blue Jays, preparing for their inaugural season as an AL expansion franchise, added him to manager Roy Hartsfield’s staff as a bullpen coach and catching instructor.111

Leppert also temporarily took on another duty in Toronto – umpiring. On August 25, 1978, AL and NL umpires went on strike. The Blue Jays were hosting the Twins that afternoon, and Toronto’s management found three local amateur umpires to officiate the game. One of the amateur umpires, however, did not make it to Exhibition Stadium in time for the first pitch.

When the game began, the umpiring crew included the two amateur umpires, alongside Leppert at second base and Twins coach Jerry Zimmerman at third. After the first inning, which passed without incident, the third amateur umpire arrived, and the game continued with a three-man crew. Leppert and Zimmerman went back to their coaching duties.112

Leppert was in Toronto for three seasons. The Blue Jays fired Hartsfield on the final day of the 1979 schedule, Toronto’s third straight year with at least 102 losses.113

As in 1976, Leppert was on to his next job before the World Series ended. Virdon had managed the Astros since September 1975, and Houston had come in second to the Reds in the NL West in 1979. Leppert joined the Astros’ coaching staff that October.114

Under Virdon, Leppert served as a third-base coach for the first time in his career.115 Virdon managed in Houston until August 1982, when the Astros fired him and promoted Bob Lillis from their coaching staff. Leppert, again surviving a managerial firing, moved to first-base coach in 1984.

Leppert remained with the Astros until Houston reshuffled its coaches in June 1985. The Astros added a second pitching coach, which put them at the major-league limit of five coaches.116 The organization reassigned Leppert to a minor-league position, but Leppert spoke critically to a local newspaper.

“The Astros want everyone to be a gentleman, to look nice on the airplanes, to have no beer on the (team) bus,” Leppert told a Houston Post columnist. “Sometimes I think they believe that’s more important than winning games. They want to make it a Sunday school church game.”117

After the remarks, the Astros immediately terminated Leppert’s employment.118 For the first time in more than 30 years, he was away from professional baseball that summer.

Bob Lee, general manager of the Kenosha Twins, Minnesota’s Class-A Midwest League affiliate, had pitched for Corpus Christi in 1955. Lee returned home to Wisconsin after professional baseball and founded a plumbing business.119 He called on Leppert, his batterymate in his professional debut,120 to manage Kenosha in 1986.

“I was looking forward to fishing a lot this summer,” Leppert said. “Then Bob Lee called me and wanted me to manage his team in Kenosha. I told him no, but he kept telling me how great it would be and how good the fishing is around here and finally I agreed.”121

In Leppert’s first season in Kenosha, the Twins’ 46-92 record was the worst in the 12-team league. He returned in 1987, and the Twins improved to 82-58, 11 games ahead of the second-place team in the Midwest League’s North Division. The Springfield Cardinals’ 94 wins topped the league during the regular season, but the Twins beat them, three games to one, to take the championship series.122 Leppert was named Midwest League Manager of the Year.123

After the 1987 season, the Twins moved Leppert to their minor-league field coordinator position.124 Catcher Damian Miller, who played in nearly 1,000 major-league games with five franchises, credited a 1991 conversation with Leppert with encouraging him to stick with professional baseball.125

Leppert became Minnesota’s Florida operations coordinator in 1993.126 He retired from the game after the 1996 season.127

In 2003 Leppert was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame.128 He and Daphine lived in Florida during their retirement years.129 Don Leppert died at age 91 on April 13, 2023, four days after their 65th wedding anniversary.

He left a record of 190 appearances in big-league box scores and several marks on the game’s lore, a testament to his own perseverance and confirmation of the judgment of baseball lifers like Coleman, Selkirk, Riddle, and Sisti. Joe L. Brown’s advice on baseball’s future also was prescient, as Leppert played for one expansion club and coached for two others.

Leppert became a lifer himself, contributing his experiences, passion, and teaching skills to generations of ballplayers, from Manny Sanguillén to Damian Miller.

The game he did not initially seek to play professionally brought decades of joy.

“I used to get a thrill just watching Roberto Clemente play for the Pirates,” Leppert recalled. “It was thrilling every time [Hall of Fame Pittsburgh second baseman] Bill Mazeroski turned a double play. It’s thrilling to watch [Astros’ strikeout king] J.R. Richard pitch when he is so awesome. Those things make my heart pump.”130

Acknowledgments

SABR members Gary Belleville and Kurt Blumenau provided insightful comments on an earlier draft version. The author thanks Don Leppert’s daughter, Kimberly Leppert Rosenberg, for sharing her memories in a phone conversation in May 2024.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author relied on Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Leppert was no relation to Donald Eugene Leppert, an infielder with the 1955 Baltimore Orioles.

2 Certificate of Birth, Donald George Leppert, Indiana State Board of Health.

3 “William Leppert,” Indianapolis News, October 21, 1960: 9.

4 “Mrs. Leppert Dies; Mother of Coach,” Indianapolis Star, May 30, 1972: 14.

5 Bill Williams, “The Outdoorsman,” Bradenton (Florida) Herald, March 2, 1972: 6-B.

6 Williams, “The Outdoorsman”; Jim Peterson, “Day Off? Senators’ King, Leppert Tackle Tonka Pike,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, August 29, 1964: 11; Jimmy Jordan, “Field and Forest,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 10, 1971: 20.

7 “Leppert is the only senior and only [returning] letterman [for Washington], but he leans into a delivery with zest,” reported the Indianapolis News on the Continentals’ appearance in the 1949 city tournament. Angelo Angelopolous, “Scouts Scan Tourney for ‘Bonus’ Players,” Indianapolis News, May 3, 1949: 24.

8 “Scouts Scan Tourney for ‘Bonus’ Players.”

9 “Scarlets Take to Air to Down Washington, 14-6,” Lafayette (Indiana) Journal and Courier, September 18, 1948: 7.

10 Andy Kent, “Lep’s a Handy Guy to Have Around: Former Catcher Don Leppert of Naples Has Experienced Almost Everything on a Baseball Field – And He Has the Hands to Prove It,” Naples (Florida) Daily News, March 16, 2003: 1C.

11 “Sycamores’ Frosh Whip Wabash in Dual Track Meet,” Terre Haute (Indiana) Star, April 28, 1950: 30; Paul Horning, “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career,” Columbus Dispatch, May 30, 1961: 5B.

12 “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career.”

13 Kent, “Lep’s a Handy Guy to Have Around.”

14 Horning, “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career”; Kent, “Lep’s a Handy Guy to Have Around.”

15 Cpl Tino Venzor, “Russell’s Three Victories Spark AF Japan Track,” Pacific Stars & Stripes, June 21, 1952: 13; “Itazuke Uses Field Goal to Defeat Brady; Keeps Undefeated Record,” Pacific Stars & Stripes, November 3, 1952: 14.

16 PFC Lou Welt, “Nagoya Cops AF Baseball Title With 9 to 8 Win Over Johnson,” Pacific Stars & Stripes, September 9, 1953: 13.

17 Horning, “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career.”

18 “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career.”

19 Kent, “Lep’s a Handy Guy to Have Around.”

20 “Lep’s a Handy Guy to Have Around”; The New York Yankees, New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals were also interested in signing Leppert. United Press, “Indianapolis Recruit Is Snared by Braves,” Terre Haute (Indiana) Tribune, February 9, 1955: 11.

21 Burnie Key, “Frogs Stave Off Carswell by 4-3,” Fort Worth Star Telegram, March 17, 1954: 15.

22 United Press, “Indianapolis Recruit Is Snared by Braves.”

23 “Indianapolis Recruit Is Snared by Braves.”

24 Cleon Walfoort, “Catchers Are Prize Catch,” Milwaukee Journal, June 10, 1962: Sports News, 3.

25 Daniel W. Scism, “Sew It Seams,” Evansville (Indiana) Courier, May 5, 1955: 27.

26 Dick Anderson, “Coleman Hopes Don Leppert Will Be Another Crandall,” Evansville (Indiana) Press, April 15, 1955: 18.

27 Bill Hodge, “Rookie Catcher Catches Eye of Wichita Braves Manager: Leppert Vies With Two Vets,” Wichita Eagle, March 21, 1956: 7C.

28 “Sew It Seams,” Evansville (Indiana) Courier, April 26, 1956: 31.

29 Wichita’s other catchers in 1956 were Charlie White, Billy Queen, and Bob Roselli. Pete Lightner, “Braves Seek Season Split With Omaha,” Wichita Eagle, September 5, 1956: 10A; Pete Lightner, “The Morning After,” Wichita Eagle, October 14, 1956: 2B.

30 Lou Maysel, “Top O’ Morn,” Austin American, April 10, 1957: 20.

31 Daniel W. Scism, “Rehm Fires Six-Hitter as Evansville Defeats Raiders, 6-2: Leppert Keeps Braves’ Homer Streak Moving,” Evansville (Indiana) Courier, May 4, 1955: 26.

32 Stan Hochman, “Clippers Rip Pampa 8-2, to End Series: Take Little Dixie Title on 11th Straight Win,” Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller, September 26, 1955: 1B.

33 Joe Scherrer, “Clippers Rout Pampa, 14-4, for 2-0 Lead,” Corpus Christi Caller, September 22, 1955: 3B; Hochman, “Clippers Rip Pampa 8-2, to End Series.”

34 Bill Hodge, “Braves Lose 9-8 in 10th: Stanky Finally Wins Point as Umpire Waves in Marker,” Wichita Eagle, April 26, 1956: 6B.

35 Bill Hodge, “Jay, Leppert Lauded for Play by Selkirk,” Wichita Beacon, July 23, 1956: 8A; Max Greenwald, “Tribe Streak Ends on 1-0 Job by Jay,” Indianapolis Star, July 24, 1956: 23.

36 Pete Lightner, “The Morning After,” Wichita Eagle, November 16, 1956: 3C.

37 Pete Lightner, “The Morning After,” Wichita Eagle, January 22, 1957: 3C.

38 Merrell Whittlesey, “Leppert Packs Wicked Wallop,” Washington Evening Star, February 21, 1963: D-4; “Pirates Name Oceak, Osborn New Coaches: Leppert, Virdon Back; Grammas Gets Job Elsewhere,” Pittsburgh Press, October 12, 1969: 4, 5; Milt Dunnell, “This Jays Coach Keeps His Cool,” Toronto Star, March 2, 1977: C1.

39 “Ted Laguna Bound for Atlanta Team,” Austin American, April 9, 1958: 21.

40 Lou Maysel, “Top O’ Morn,” Austin American, April 10, 1957: 20.

41 Lou Maysel, “Top O’ Morn,” Austin American, July 21, 1957: C-8.

42 Charley Eskew, “Big Season Due Leppert,” Austin American, March 22, 1958: 12.

43 Phone interview with Kimberly Leppert Rosenberg, May 28, 2024.

44 State of Texas Marriage License, No. 519, recorded April 10, 1958, accessed May 18, 2024, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/40714957:9168.

45 James Elkins, “Braves’ Don Leppert Lives at Elk City,” Paducah (Kentucky) Sun-Democrat, February 23, 1959: 8; “Surgery Set for Leppert,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 1962: 27; Russ White, “Will Leppert Change His Spots?” Washington Daily News, July 9. 1963: 35; Lester J. Biederman, “Leppert Willing to Catch a Leftover Job,” Pittsburgh Press, March 10, 1965: 57.

46 Leppert had hand, finger, or thumb injuries in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, and 1966. Maysel, “Top O’ Morn,” Austin American, July 21, 1957; Lou Maysel, “Late Austin Rally Dumps Padres, 4-2,” Austin American, May 21, 1958: A16; Elkins, “Braves’ Don Leppert Lives at Elk City”; “Rangers Bow to Weather,” Dallas Morning News, June 24, 1959, 2,1; “Rangers’ Jablonski Gets Recall from Kansas City,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 2, 1960: Lester J. Biederman, “First World Series Still Stands as Top Thrill in Musial’s Career,” Pittsburgh Press, September 18, 1961: 27; Lester J. Biederman, “Francis Draws Acclaim in Tough Loss to Dodgers: Durocher Awed by Pirate Hurler; Murtaugh Happy Despite Defeat,” Pittsburgh Press, April 30, 1962: 31; Associated Press, “Senators’ Leppert Fractures Thumb,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, April 11, 1964: 15; United Press International, “Don Leppert Injures Finger,” Honolulu Advertiser, May 17, 1965: B-7; Eddie Fisher, “Roberts Likes Hen Pitching,” Columbus Dispatch, July 7, 1966: 16A.

47 Elkins, “Braves’ Don Leppert Lives at Elk City.”

48 Lou Maysel, “Top O’ Morn,” Austin American, June 5, 1958: 19.

49 “Senatorial Record,” Austin Statesman, May 13, 1958: 19.

50 Elkins, “Braves’ Don Leppert Lives at Elk City.”

51 Phone interview with Kimberly Leppert Rosenberg, May 28, 2024.

52 “Memorial Hospital Notes,” Edinburg (Indiana) Courier, October 21, 1961: 1.

53 “Memorial Hospital Notes,” Franklin (Indiana) Evening Star, July 20, 1964: 2.

54 “Daily Vital Statistics,” Indianapolis News, November 12, 1970: 44.

55 Elkins, “Braves’ Don Leppert Lives at Elk City.”

56 Elkins, “Braves’ Don Leppert Lives at Elk City.”

57 Charley Eskew, “Sens Get Don Leppert for Outfield Work,” Austin American, April 8, 1959: 23.

58 “Rangers Buy Don Leppert,” Dallas Morning News, April 20, 1959: Section 2, 3.

59 Leppert missed a few games in June with hand and back injuries. “Rangers Bow to Weather,” Dallas Morning News, June 24, 1959: Section 2, 1.

60 Bill Van Fleet, “Cities to Unite in Association Ball,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, January 17, 1960: Section 2, 1.

61 Van Fleet, “Cities to Unite in Association Ball.”

62 Horning, “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career.”

63 The trade sent Tom Burgess, Chick King, and Ken Toothman to Dallas for Leppert. Jack Hernon, “Roamin’ Around,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 14, 1961: 24.

64 Horning, “‘Expansion’ Is Key Word in Don Leppert’s Career.”

65 Lester J. Biederman, “Pirates Get Logan, Moryn and Leppert for Better Bench: Cimoli, Oldis Take Departure Hard After Whirl with Championship Team,” Pittsburgh Press, June 16, 1961: 31.

66 Through June 15, Pirates pinch-hitters had only 7 hits in 45 at-bats, a .156 average. Backup catcher Hal Smith, a lifetime .279 hitter with a key home run in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, was batting just .202. Third-string backstop Bob Oldis, regarded as an outstanding defender, had appeared in only four games.

67 Earl Flora, “Jets Blast off with Power Win,” Columbus Dispatch, April 20, 1961: 19A; Eddie Fisher, “Shepard Tabs Francis as League’s Best Righty,” Columbus Dispatch, June 2, 1961: 25B; Eddie Fisher, “Jets Well Off, Avers Cooper,” Columbus Dispatch, June 18, 1961: 37B.

68 Fisher, “Jets Well Off, Avers Cooper.”

69 “Pirates Land Logan, Moryn in Shuffle: Cimoli Traded, Waivers Asked on Gene Baker,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 16, 1961: 18. The Pirates sent third-string catcher Oldis to Columbus, traded outfielder Gino Cimoli to the Braves for shortstop Johnny Logan, purchased outfielder Walt Moryn from the Cardinals, and released infielder Gene Baker.

70 Leppert was 29 years, 242 days old on the day of his debut. The only older rookies that season were pitcher Chi-Chi Olivo of the Braves (35 years, 79 days), briefly Leppert’s minor-league teammate in 1958 and 1959; catcher Mike Roarke of the Detroit Tigers (30 years, 162 days), whose time in the Braves’ organization had overlapped Leppert’s; and outfielder Bobby Prescott of the Athletics (30 years, 82 days).

71 United Press International, “Bucs to Look at Potential Mound Toiler,” Simpson’s Leader Times (Kittanning, Pennsylvania), June 19, 1961: 13.

72 United Press International, “Bucs to Look at Potential Mound Toiler”; Lester J. Biederman, “Hoak Injury Adds to Pirate Woes: Top Hitter Hurts Eye as Card Split Keeps Bucs on Treadmill,” Pittsburgh Press, June 19, 1961: 23.

73 Ed Eagle, “Players with Home Run in First At-Bat,” MLB.com, September 1, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/home-run-in-first-at-bat-c265623820.

74 Will Doerge, “Friend Seeks Fourth Straight Win: Al McBean Muzzles Giants, 7-3; Pirates Lead by 3 Games,” Pittsburgh Press, April 25, 1962: 54.

75 Stan Hochman, “Vega Wins No. 25, Inspires Fist Fight,” Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller, August 6, 1955: 4B.

76 Jack Hernon, “Roamin’ Around,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 10, 1961: 29.

77 Merrell Whittlesey, “Senators Purchase Leppert from Bucs,” Washington Evening Star, December 16, 1962: C-1; “Catcher Leppert Dealt to Senators for Pitcher, Cash,” Pittsburgh Press, December 15, 1962: 7.

78 Whittlesey, “Senators Purchase Leppert from Bucs.”

79 Herb Ralby, “Cheney’s Win 3d Over Red Sox,” Boston Globe, April 12, 1963: 29.

80 Russ White, “Senators Get Charge From Hot Battery,” Washington Daily News, April 12, 1963: 42.

81 Merrell Whittlesey, “Cheney’s Great Getaway Best in Memory for Coach,” Washington Evening Star, May 2, 1963: B-6.

82 Merrell Whittlesey, “Senators Top Tigers, 7-5, After Blowing Opener, 6-3,” Washington Evening Star, May 19, 1963: D-1; White, “Will Leppert Change His Spots?”; Merrell Whittlesey, “Senators Win, 8-4; Lock Raps Pair: Don’s 5 RBI Lead Pasting of Tigers,” Washington Evening Star, July 28, 1963: G-1.

83 Associated Press, “Bunning or Bouton to Start for All-Stars: Houk Fills Squad; Leppert Selected,” Washington Evening Star, July 2, 1963: A-21.

84 Bill Christine, “All-Star Flashbacks, Medium Rare,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 22, 1974: 13.

85 “Senators’ Leppert Fractures Thumb.”

86 Joe Trimble, “Tired Ford Last [sic] 6, Wins 4 to 1,” New York Daily News, July 11, 1964: C22.

87 Carl Machado, “Leppert in Rare Circle,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 26, 1965: B-6.

88 Tom Hopkins, “Islanders’ Winning Streak Stops at 4,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 26, 1965: B-6.

89 “George Case to Return as Islander Pilot,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 16, 1965: B-4.

90 Harry Shattuck, “Catch This Coach: Helping Astros’ Receivers Is Key Part of Leppert’s Job,” Houston Chronicle, May 11, 1980: Section 3, 4.

91 “Catch This Coach.”

92 Max Greenwald, “Leppert’s Moment of Decision Near,” Indianapolis Star, October 30, 1966: Section 4, 9.

93 “Leppert’s Moment of Decision Near.”

94 Lester J. Biederman, “Larry Shepard Named Pirate Manager in ’68: ’67 Phil Coach Signs for Year,” Pittsburgh Press, October 13, 1967: 1.

95 “Bucs Name Leppert Boss of Bullpen,” Pittsburgh Press, October 17, 1967: 43.

96 “Pirates Name Oceak, Osborn New Coaches: Leppert, Virdon Back; Grammas Gets Job Elsewhere,” Pittsburgh Press, October 12, 1969: Section 4, 5.

97 “Virdon Keeps Buc Coaches,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 24, 1971: 20.

98 “Ricketts Fired, Skinner Hired,” Pittsburgh Press, October 5, 1973: 32.

99 Bob Smizik, “Pirates Grounded by Reds, 9-4: Umpires Plague Bucs Again in Fourth Straight Home Loss,” Pittsburgh Press, July 14, 1974: D-1.

100 Al Abrams, “‘Home Run’ No Issue in Long Run,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 15, 1971: 26; “Fair Or Foul? At Least It Was a Rhubarb,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), October 15, 1971: 118.

101 Al Abrams, “Sidelights on Sports,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 26, 1970: 28.

102 Associated Press Photo, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s A,” Toronto Star, February 28, 1978: B1.

103 Neil MacCarl, “Jays on Defensive Against Stolen Bases,” Toronto Star, May 10, 1978: B-6; Shattuck, “Catch This Coach.” As a first-year expansion club in 1977, the Blue Jays, with Leppert coaching their catchers, threw out 47 percent of runners who tried to steal, tying them for second in the AL.

104 Dan Donovan, “Who Is the Toughest of Them All?,” Pittsburgh Press, May 27, 1973: D-2.

105 “Who Is the Toughest of Them All?”

106 Hal McCoy, “Reds Weren’t Listening During Sermon,” Dayton Daily News, July 15, 1974: 14.

107 Kenny Hand, “Fighting Words: Astros Resume Old Feud With L.A.,” Houston Post, June 26, 1983: 1C.

108 Milt Dunnell, “This Jays Coach Keeps His Cool,” Toronto Star, March 2, 1977: C1.

109 Bob Smizik, “Handicapping a Successor,” Pittsburgh Press, August 23, 1976: 19.

110 “Peterson Seeks Manager,” Pittsburgh Press, October 5, 1976: 41.

111 “Two More Coaches Sign With Blue Jays,” Toronto Star, October 16, 1976: D4.

112 Neal MacCarl, “Absent Umps Steal Woods’ Thunder,” Toronto Star, August 26, 1978: B1.

113 Alison Gordon, “It’s Official: Hartsfield Is Out,” Toronto Star, October 1, 1979: B1.

114 Harry Shattuck, “Leppert Named Astros’ Coach,” Houston Chronicle, October 18, 1979: Section 2, 6.

115 Shattuck, “Catch This Coach.”

116 Ivy McLemore, “Astros Hire Moss, Fire Leppert,” Houston Post, May 29, 1985: 4D.

117 Kenny Hand, “Leppert Red Hot About Being Left Out in the Cold,” Houston Post, June 3, 1985: 1C.

118 “Leppert’s Comments Earn Pink Slip From Rosen,” Houston Post, June 4, 1985: 1E.

119 Paul McKillip, “City Welcomes Minor League Baseball,” Kenosha (Wisconsin) News, December 31, 1983: YEAR END, 8.

120 Louis Anderson, “Harlingen Takes 9-6 Win Over Clippers,” Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller, June 23, 1955: 4B; “Braves Bonus Pitcher Joins Clipper Squad,” Corpus Christi Caller, June 23, 1955: 4B.

121 John McIntrye, “Old-Timers Anxious to Get Out to Ballpark,” Kenosha (Wisconsin) News, January 23, 1986: 23.

122 John McIntyre, “Twins Are Champs Once More,” Kenosha (Wisconsin) News, September 9, 1987: 15.

123 Three Clinton Giants Receive All-Star Honors; Angels Ignored,” Quad-City (Iowa) Times, August 30, 1987: 2C.

124 “Twins Shuffle Their Lineup in the Minor Leagues,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 31, 1987: 7D.

125 Jeff Brown, “Quite a Ride: Once a Journeyman, Damian Miller Looks Back on His Road to the Major Leagues,” La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune, December 24, 2000: B-3.

126 Sid Hartman, “Warg Is Convinced Oilers Plan to Move,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 5, 1993: 2C.

127 “Twins’ Minor League Positions Nearly Set,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 26, 1996: C2.

128 Pat McKee, “State Basketball Hall Honors IHSAA’s Roy,” Indianapolis Star, January 21, 2003: D5.

129 Kent, “Lep’s a Handy Guy to Have Around.”

130 Shattuck, “Catch This Coach.”