Bobby Mitchell

Years: 1980-1983

Teams: Dodgers, Twins

Games: 202

At-Bats: 617

Home Runs: 3

Batting Average: .243

As you may have noticed, all the players I’ve covered here have been from more or less the late 1980’s through the late 1990’s. This is due to who I’m familiar with and the cards I have. But today I’ll break that rule just for once and go back a little bit earlier in time to cover a suggestion made by one of our readers. I always enjoy this kind of feedback so please feel free to send me any more suggestions.

Bobby Mitchell had an impressive baseball pedigree prior to even playing in the big leagues. He had been in the 1967 Little League World Series, playing for the Chicago team that lost to Tokyo, Japan 4-1. After graduating from high school, he was drafted in the 5th round of the 1973 June draft by the San Francisco Giants but turned them down in order to play at USC under legendary coach Rod Dedeaux. In his first season there, the team won the college baseball world series, defeating Miami 7-3 in 1974.

Once again, Bobby would be drafted in 1975, this time by the Padres. Once again, he turned them down in order to stay at USC. Bobby would finally sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977 after finishing up his last year at USC. Starting this year, Bobby would never hit less than .292 in the minors on his way up the chain. He would also have double-digit figures in stolen bases everywhere he played, highlighted by 49 in 131 games at AA San Antonio in 1978. He was also excellent at getting on base, posting a .432 OBP at AAA Albuquerque in 1980 with a superb 74-26 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

Bobby happened to play for the Dodgers at a time when they were good and also had a crowded outfield but nevertheless he made his debut for them at the end of the 1980 season, appearing in 9 games and getting three at-bats. He mainly served as a pinch-hitter, pinch-runner, and defensive replacement, usually in center field.

The following season of 1981 would be shortened somewhat due to a player’s strike but Bobby would hit .311 in 104 games at Albuquerque, once again putting up double figures in stolen bases. He would once again be called up to the majors in early September, this time playing in 10 games and getting 8 at-bats while playing the same kind of role as the year before. The Dodgers would be the World Series champions this year but Bobby wouldn’t play at all in the playoffs.

The following January, Bobby would be traded along with another Bobby (Castillo) from the Dodgers to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Scotti Madison and Paul Voight. Whereas the Dodgers had been world champions, the Twins were one of the weaker if not the weakest teams in the American League during the early 1980’s and had finished the 1981 season 41-68 at the bottom of the western division. Only the Blue Jays in the eastern division were worse than them.

Needless to say, the Twins were in need of a good outfielder or two and Bobby did his best for them. He played in 124 games for them that year, starting in most of them at center field. While he did get on base at a .331 rate, he would only hit .249 on a team that ended up finishing 60-102 and once again at the bottom of the American League West. Not only were the Twins the worst team in the AL, but they managed to have a worse record than the worst team in the National League that year, the Cincinnati Reds.

While the Twins did manage to improve in 1983, finishing at 70-92, Bobby would be supplanted by Darrell Brown in center field and would end up having only 152 at-bats in 59 games. I’m not sure whether injuries derailed him this year or he was simply a healthy scratch most nights. This would be his last year in the majors as the next three years found him as a regular in AAA with three teams each year. By this point, his speed had slipped and his overall stats were in clear decline.

Starting in 1992, Bobby has been back in baseball in one capacity or another for several organizations at several different levels:  baserunning coordinator, roving outfield and baserunning instructor, and for all but 2 years since 2006 managing. Last year marked his second years as the manager of the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League. Both years, his Thunder has lost in the finals. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point to see Bobby’s name being floated as a possible manager or coach for a major league team.