Dutch Dotterer

Henry John "Dutch" Dotterer, Jr. (November 11, 1931 – October 9, 1999) was an American professional baseball catcher. The native of Syracuse, New York, attended Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi Gamma). He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 209 pounds (95 kg).

Dotterer played Major League Baseball with the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1957 till 1960 and with the Washington Senators as a member of the expansion Senators' 1961 debut season in the American League. He batted .247 in 107 career games, with five home runs and 33 runs batted in. In 1959, he backed up regular Cincinnati catcher Ed Bailey, hitting .267 with two homers and 17 RBI in 161 at-bats. At the close of the 1960 season, he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics, who then left him unprotected in the 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft. Dotterer was acquired by Washington with the 12th pick in the player lottery.

Dotterer made the 1961 Senators' opening day roster and logged 19 at-bats with them, but on April 30 of that season he played his final MLB game. He then spent the rest of his pro career with his hometown Syracuse Chiefs of the Triple-A International League in 1961–62. He died in Syracuse at age 68.

His father, Dutch Dotterer, Sr., was a longtime scout with Cincinnati, the Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. His brother, Tom, an infielder, played minor league baseball in the Cincinnati organization. Also, his son Mike graduated from Stanford University where he is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame in both Football and Baseball. Mike was drafted by the New York Yankees (1979,1983), the Oakland Athletics (1982) and in the NFL by the Los Angeles Raiders (1983) where he was a member of the 1984 Super Bowl Championship Team.

1. ^ Baseball Reference