An encounter with Don Mincher

From SABR member Bruce Markusen at The Hardball Times on March 6, 2012:

For this writer, Don Mincher will always hold an important place. Mincher, who died on Sunday at the age of 73, was the first player I interviewed for my first book, “A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s.”

Not only was Mincher the first, but he might have been the best of the interviews I did. Keep in mind that I really didn’t know what I was doing; I had done interviews before, but never for a full-length book, and this was a book for which I had not yet formulated a theme.

But Don made it easy. He spoke naturally and freely in giving me keen insights to the inner workings of the A’s circa 1971-72. He told me about the strong personalities who did not always agree with each other. He gave me advice on whom I should interview next, and which A’s I should perhaps steer away from.

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For more on Don Mincher’s career, please see [SABR member] Chris Jaffe’s THT Live entry on his career highlights.

Read the full article here: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/a-tribute-to-don-mincher/

Bruce Markusen’s “A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s” won the 1998 Seymour Medal. See a full list of winners here: http://sabr.org/about/seymour-medal



Originally published: March 8, 2012. Last Updated: March 8, 2012.