The player-turned-coach Dave Duncan was born on September 26 of 1945 in Dallas, Texas. On his retirement from the game he joined as a pitching coach. As a catcher he had the opportunity to play 11 seasons starting with the Oakland Athletics, which he was with for seven seasons and ending his career with the Cleveland Indians as well as Baltimore Orioles. Known as a defensive catcher during his career days, Duncan has to his credit a career average batting of 214. He is remembered for his tied Major League record of four consecutive doubles in one game, which he achieved on March 13, 1975. He could hit only three doubles in the rest of the 95 games he played in 1975. Duncan started his career as a famous coach in the year 1978 with the Cleveland Indians, the team for which he played during his later years as a player. Soon he shifted his platform as the pitching coach for the famous Seattle Mariners and later joined in the Chicago White Sox, where his former teammate and friend La Russa was the manager of the team. One of the important aspects of his coaching career is his rare feat of being the only active pitching coach without being a pitcher himself in his long career as a baseball player. Still his staff won many laurels in pitching. The three Cy Young awards won by his staff on October 23, 1995 is a testimony to his illustrious coaching career. La Russa, Duncans team mate and friend, who worked as Manager in many of the teams in which they teamed as coach and manager, had no reservations whatsoever in publicly acknowledging the contributions of Duncan in the success of various teams he managed for the past quarter a century. Duncan lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Jeannie and two sons. The eldest son Shelly was drafted in the 2001 draft, in the second round, as an outfielder by the New York Yankees and another son Chris was picked up by the Cardinals. Chris made his debut in September 2005, a moment his father and great coach will always cherish. |
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