My SABR Story on Dave Machemer

Shining a Light on Dave Machemer

The game of baseball in many ways is like the vast universe around us. From a glance, you will notice the moon, the sun, bright and faint stars, and from time to time a planet or two. It is not until you explore the universe that you would completely understand how big the whole universe actually is, and how it all comes together & works together as one.

Baseball is the same, you have your obvious juggernauts in Babe Ruth, Willie Mays & Ty Cobb, and many others in the upper echelon of the sport. Then the next levels down of Hall of Fame players you have your players like Paul Molitor, Rod Carew, and Billy Williams. Then there is those hovering in the stratosphere that are just not good enough to make the Hall of Fame, or that should be in the Hall of Fame (depending on where you are in the debate) on guys like Dale Murphy, Dwight Evans, Don Mattingly, Keith Hernandez, Steve Garvey, Gil Hodges, Dave Parker and many others. Following those stars are players like Torii Hunter and Johnny Damon, durable veterans making huge impacts on their fan bases, putting together strong career numbers, with plenty of All-Star appearances, all while never sniffing any real consideration for the Hall of Fame.

My brother Chris and I, both enjoy playing a board game called APBA Baseball. The game is a baseball simulation tabletop game which each baseball player gets their own individual card, while their performance of the card depends a lot on how they actually performed in real life. The game also comes with boards for each on-base scenarios such as bases loaded or runners on 2nd & 3rd, while rolling the dice provide the outcomes of many variable scenarios. The game can be played face to face, or solitaire, which the latter is often the case.

We decided to start replaying the 1978 Major League Baseball season via the basic game version of APBA Baseball back on Easter 2019. We both live in different parts of Michigan, and thought it would be better done as a joint effort in which I would replay the American League games, while he played the National League, all solitaire. We would use the real starters from each game's box scores. He decided to do the actual starting lineups' batting orders, while I used the same starters but adjusted the lineups.

My reasoning for adjusting the batting order is that I needed to have that manager experience, while I could not see myself placing designated hitter Leroy Stanton as the Seattle Mariners' cleanup hitter for the first 30 games or so, when he had a horrible season (.182 BA & .514 OPS), so I batted him last. I definitely can see where Seattle manager Darrell Johnson was coming from, by placing Stanton cleanup, he was just coming off a good expansion season in which he batted .275 with 27 HR & 90 RBI (.852 OPS) for the M's, but for some reason Stanton was not able to come even close to repeating his 1977 season, while his lousy 1978 season would prove to be his last.

By playing this game, we would play guys that we obviously knew in Jim Rice and Ron Guidry, who both had amazing seasons in 1978, but we would also play guys that we would never have known about...

Enter the California Angels' Dave Machemer.

I was replaying a game from May 20th, 1978 between the visiting California Angels (21-14) at the Milwaukee Brewers (18-17). The Angels' star second baseman Bobby Grich was injured sliding into second base, while he would be replaced by Machemer for the remainder of the game. For Machemer, it was his alternate reality MLB debut, his real life debut would not actually happen for another month (June 21st).

Machemer would make his alt debut a memorable one during my 1978 A.L. Replay, by hitting a three-run home run (in his 2nd at-bat) off Milwaukee starting pitcher Bill Travers during the 5th inning. The home run gave California a 4-2 lead, which would prove to be pivotal in their victory that day. Interesting fact, in real life, Machemer would also hit a home run during his MLB debut, but he would accomplish that feat on his very first at-bat, a deep fly to left off Geoff Zahn of the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium. The home run would go on to be his only home run of his brief MLB playing career, while making him one of 118 players to hit a home run in his first career at-bat.

The unique connection between the two home runs happening on his debuts for my 1978 A.L. Replay and real life 1978, definitely peaked my interest in learning more about Machemer.

I noticed like myself, that he was from the state of Michigan. The Benton Harbor High School product, born in St. Joseph, played his college ball for the Central Michigan University Chippewas from 1971-1972. He would be selected by the Angels in the 4th Round of the 1972 MLB June Amateur Draft. Machemer would spend some time in the minors, making his name as a speedster who would go on to steal 246 bases during his minor league career. Machemer made his MLB debut at the age of 27, while going on to play two short stints in the majors during 1978 & 1979 for the California Angels, and my beloved Detroit Tigers. Machemer's stay in the majors was short-lived, in which he would wallow in the minors as a professional baseball player until the end of the 1982 season. Machemer played his final seasons in the Minnesota Twins' minor league system for the Toledo Mud Hens.

Machemer's life in the minors would become his full-time gig, as he would establish himself as a minor league manager, managing in 14 different locations, all different levels, while logging 1,640 career wins. He accomplished his 1,000th career win as manager of the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on August 22, 2003. He would go on to win two league championships, his first coming off his 2nd season as a manager, by managing the 1986 Stockton Ports to the title in the California League. The second league title came 22 years later, managing the rookie-level Arizona Giants during the 2008 Arizona Fall League. Dave would earn his only Manager of the Year title in between the titles, for his work with the 1996 El Paso Diablos in the Texas League.

In 2007, Machemer's minor league career started morphing from managing towards scouting, while working for the San Francisco Giants. The team sent him on the road for 3 months with advanced scout & former Minnesota Twins outfielder Tim Uhlaender, concentrating on areas such as athleticism, arm strength, bat speed, while submitting reports.

Machemer would go on to join the Baltimore Orioles' scouting staff in 2014, in which for his first three seasons, he reported solely on players who were drafted in the first two rounds, all while reporting to team scouting director Gary Rajsich. Machemer acknowledged that although the Orioles depended a lot on sabermetrics by using analysis and computers, that he still put heavy emphasis on his veteran experience, eyes & heart on what makes a ballplayer. Machemer continued his scouting for the Orioles, until he and 11 other team scouts & officials were relieved of their duties by rookie General Manager Mike Elias; Elias was part of the Houston Astros front office from 2011-2013 that overhauled that franchise, transforming that team into a World Series winner in 2017.

Machemer reflecting back on his lone home run, "I hit it good and right down the third base line. It ended up going into the stands for a home run, and I was so excited that I missed touching first base. The coach called me to come back and touch the bag, and I did and then circled the rest of the bases. The first person to pick me up and hug me as I returned to our dugout was Nolan Ryan.”

Make no bones about it, Machemer's professional career does not echo any of the names that I mentioned near the top, nor does it warrant the attention of a Mike Bordick, Danny Valencia or even a Don Kelly. It's all part of the beauty of baseball and what I love most about it, is that all little pieces play a part in this larger baseball universe, much in the same ways that a gas cloud, random comet, or an asteroid plays in the universe around us.

You might miss Dave Machemer with a mere glance, but if you look closer, you will find an interesting life built around Baseball.

Resources:

• Baseball Reference.com
• Wikipedia
• Axisa, Mike / CBS sports.com
• Krah, Steve / www.IndianaRBI.com