Donn Clendenon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Donn Clendenon
First baseman
Born: (1935-07-15)July 15, 1935 Neosho, Missouri
Died: September 17, 2005(2005-09-17) (aged 70) Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
September 22, 1961, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last appearance
August 5, 1972, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.274
Home runs	159
Runs batted in	682
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1961–1968) Montreal Expos (1969) New York Mets (1969–1971) St. Louis Cardinals (1972)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1969) World Series MVP (1969)

Donn Alvin Clendenon (born July 15, 1935 – died September 17, 2005) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972. He is best known for his amazing performance in the 1969 World Series. He won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award by hitting three home runs. This helped the team, known as the "Miracle Mets," win a big upset victory against the Baltimore Orioles.

Donn Clendenon's Early Life and Family

Donn Clendenon was born in Neosho, Missouri. When he was just six months old, his father, Claude, passed away from leukemia. His father was a mathematics and psychology professor at Langston University. Donn's mother, Helen, always wanted him to do well in school.

When Donn was six, his mother married Nish Williams. Nish was a former Negro league baseball player. Nish wanted to help Donn become a great baseball player. He coached Donn on almost every team he played for. This included his college team and his semi-pro team, the Atlanta Black Crackers. Donn also got advice from famous Negro League players. These included Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, and Don Newcombe.

College Years at Morehouse

Donn Clendenon was a star athlete at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned awards in nine different sports. He received many scholarship offers for college. He was planning to go to UCLA. But coaches from Morehouse College in Atlanta visited his mother. They convinced her that he should go to a school closer to home.

Morehouse College is a very important school for young African-American men. When Donn started there in 1952, a special program had just ended. This program gave new students "Big Brothers" to help them get used to college. Even though the program stopped, a Morehouse graduate volunteered to be Donn's "Big Brother." His name was Martin Luther King Jr..

At Morehouse, Donn earned awards in twelve sports. He played football, basketball, and baseball. He even received offers to play for the Cleveland Browns (football) and the Harlem Globetrotters (basketball). But Donn decided he wanted to be a teacher. After graduating, he started teaching fourth grade. His stepfather, Nish Williams, then convinced him to try out for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1957. Donn signed with the team soon after.

Donn Clendenon's Major League Baseball Career

Donn Clendenon playing in 1965

Playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Donn Clendenon spent five seasons playing in the minor leagues. He then made his first appearance in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1961. In his first full season, 1962, Donn batted .302. He hit seven home runs and had 28 runs batted in (RBI). He finished second in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year.

After the 1962 season, the Pirates traded their first baseman, Dick Stuart. This opened up the first base position for Donn. He played well, batting .275 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI. In 1965 and 1966, he drove in 96 and 98 runs. Donn became an important part of Pittsburgh's famous "Lumber Company" team. He played alongside great players like Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente.

Joining the Montreal Expos and New York Mets

The Pirates had a new first base player, Al Oliver, ready to play. So, they did not protect Donn Clendenon in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft. He was chosen by the Montreal Expos. In January 1969, the Expos traded Donn and Jesús Alou to the Houston Astros. In return, they got Rusty Staub. However, Donn did not want to play for the Astros. He had played for their new manager, Harry Walker, before in Pittsburgh. Donn even said he would retire instead of playing for the Astros.

The baseball Commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, made the trade happen. He ordered the Expos to give the Astros more players as a trade. Donn joined the Expos on April 19, 1969. He was batting .240 with four home runs and 14 RBI. On June 15, 1969, the Expos traded him to the New York Mets. The Mets gave them Steve Renko, Kevin Collins, and two minor league players.

The Amazin' Mets of 1969

When Donn joined the Mets, they were in second place. They were nine games behind the Leo Durocher's Chicago Cubs in the National League East. Donn shared playing time at first base with Ed Kranepool. At first, his hitting numbers with the Mets were not much better than with the Expos. But slowly, Donn's batting average started to go up. On August 30, Donn hit a home run in the 10th inning against the San Francisco Giants. This gave the Mets a 3–2 win.

The Mets were 2½ games behind Chicago when the Cubs came to Shea Stadium for two games on September 8. The Mets won both games, moving to within ½ game of first place. Donn hit a two-run home run in the Mets' 7–1 win on September 9.

The Mets then won their next six games in a row (10 total). This put them 3½ games ahead of the Cubs. On September 24, Donn hit two big home runs against the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit a three-run home run and a solo home run. This helped the Mets win the NL East title. Overall, the Mets won 38 of their last 49 games. They finished with 100 wins and 62 losses. This was eight games ahead of the second-place Cubs.

Winning the 1969 World Series

Donn Clendenon did not play in the Mets' 1969 National League Championship Series. The Mets swept the Atlanta Braves in three games. In the 1969 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Donn played in four of the five games. He only missed Game 3. In Game 1, he got two hits in four tries. He scored the Mets' only run in their 4–1 loss.

In Game 2, he hit a home run in the fourth inning. In Game 4, he hit another home run in the second inning. Both home runs gave the Mets an early 1–0 lead.

In Game 5, the Orioles were ahead 3–0. Cleon Jones started the sixth inning. The pitcher, Dave McNally, seemed to hit Jones's foot with a pitch. But the home plate umpire, Lou DiMuro, said the ball missed Jones. Mets manager Gil Hodges came out to argue. He showed the umpire a shoe-polish mark on the ball. The umpire changed his call and sent Jones to first base. Donn Clendenon then hit a two-run home run. This brought the Mets within one run. The Mets eventually won the game 5–3. This completed their amazing World Series victory over the Orioles, who were expected to win easily.

For the whole series, Donn batted .357 (5 hits in 14 tries). He hit three home runs and had four RBI. He was named the World Series MVP. His three home runs are still tied for the most in a five-game World Series. Ryan Howard also hit three in the 2008 World Series.

Later Career and Retirement

On July 28, 1970, Donn Clendenon set a Mets record. He drove in seven runs with two three-run home runs and a sacrifice fly. The Mets were in second place that day, one game behind the Pirates. But they did not play as well after that. They finished the season in third place, six games behind the Pirates. Donn batted .288 with 22 home runs for the season. He also set the Mets' record for RBI in a single season with 97.

In 1971, Ed Kranepool had a great year for the Mets. Also, other first base players like Mike Jorgensen and John Milner were ready to play. So, Donn Clendenon was released by the Mets at the end of the 1971 season.

Donn signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for the 1972 season. But he did not play much. He was released on August 7. He had a .191 batting average, four home runs, and only nine RBIs. Three weeks after Donn was released, the Cardinals traded their first baseman, Matty Alou. They then used many different players at first base for the rest of the season.

Life After Baseball

After retiring from baseball, Donn Clendenon went back to Pittsburgh. He earned a law degree from Duquesne University in 1978. He then started working as a lawyer in Dayton, Ohio. In 1987, he moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There, he worked for a law firm and later became a general counsel for a company. Donn also spent many years helping people with their recoveries. He was very dedicated to supporting others.

Donn Clendenon passed away in Sioux Falls in 2005 at the age of 70. He had been battling leukemia for a long time. He was survived by his wife, Anne, his sons, Donn Jr. and Val, his daughter, Donna, and six grandsons. Just before he passed away, he was honored by being inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.