Darrell Evans
Historian Bill James called Darrell Evans "probably the most underrated player in baseball history." Evans was the first player to hit 40 homers in both the National and American Leagues, and in 1985 he became the oldest man (38) to win a home run title. Also, in 1987, he became the first 40-year old to hit 40 homers in a season. Earlier in his career, he was a very good defensive third baseman for Atlanta and San Francisco, before joining Detroit, where he was primarily a first baseman and DH. He hit 414 career home runs: 131 for the Braves, 142 for the Giants and 141 for the Tigers.
Played For
Atlanta Braves (1969-1976)
San Francisco Giants (1976-1983)
Detroit Tigers (1984-1988)
Atlanta Braves (1989)
All-Time Rankings
Darrell Evans ranks #15 among the Top 50 all-time at 3B. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1973
Evans not only blasted 41 homers, he was also still a very good defensive third baseman. 26 years old, Evans hit .281 with 104 RBI, 114 runs scored, 124 walks and a .403 OBP. His slugging percentage was .556 and he even hit eight triples, somehow. Evan's other top seasons were 1974, 1983, 1985 and 1987.
Factoids
Among eligible players, Darrell Evans, Andre Dawson and Dave Kingman are the only players to hit 400 homers who are not in the Hall of Fame.
Darrell Evans tied a National League record when he committed three errors in one inning, April 11, 1980, against the Padres.
Darrell Evans was on first base when Braves' teammate Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, on April 8, 1974.
Highest Career Secondary Average, Third Basemen (min. 5,000 PA)
Mike Schmidt... .489
Chipper Jones... .464
Eddie Mathews... .448
Howard Johnson... .420
Harlond Clift... .388
Darrell Evans ... .387
Bobby Bonilla... .379
Matt Williams... .376
George Brett... .373
Ron Santo... .370
Secondary Average measures those offensive contributions that are not measured by batting average. That includes total bases on extra-base hits, walks and stolen bases. It's not a perfect tool, but it does help to tell us which players are underrated because of low batting averages. It's interesting that three third basemen who have gained some dark horse HOF support (Clift, Santo and Evans) are on this list. This list doesn't mean they are HOFers, but it does show a handful of third basemen who are overlooked because they didn't win batting titles or have gaudy averages.
Most Walks, (1969-1989)
Darrell Evans... 1,605
Joe Morgan... 1,580
Mike Schmidt... 1,507
Reggie Jackson... 1,315
Dwight Evans... 1,270
Ken Singleton... 1,263
Pete Rose... 1,257
Carl Yastrzemski... 1,19
5
Toby Harrah... 1,153
Bobby Grich... 1,087
Where He Played
When the Braves converted him into a first baseman, Evans explained the challenge: "The toughest thing for me right now is knowing how far to my right to go for a ball. I don't want to be in the way of the second baseman. Also, finding the bag while taking throws without getting run over is something I have to learn."
Born
Darrell Wayne Evans was born on May 26, 1947, in Pasadena, CA.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Primary Position: 3B
Primary Team: SFN
College: Cal St. Los Angeles
Major League Debut
April 20, 1969
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1969
Darrell Evans
Bill Buckner
Carlton Fisk
Steve Garvey
Bill Russell
Toby Harrah
Vida Blue
Jerry Reuss
Thurman Munson
Nicknames
Howdy Doody, Howdy
Evans was called "Howdy Doody" or just plain "Howdy" by his Braves' teammates because of his resemblance to Howdy Doody (see image above). In 1976, Braves owner Ted Turner experimented with putting player nicknames on the back of jerseys. Evans had "Howdy" on his. Pitcher Andy Messersmith was given number 17 and had the word "channel" above it, thus displaying "Channel 17" on his back, the flag ship for Turner's cable network. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was unimpressed and ordered the nicknames removed.
Similar Players
Graig Nettles, somewhat. Evans wasn't the defensive player Nettles was, but he was a better offensive player.
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 1995 |
BBWAA |
8 |
1.7% |
|
Post-Season Appearances
1984 American League Championship Series
1984 World Series
1987 American League Championship Series
Feats
Evans walked in 15 straight games in 1976, setting an NL record...He hit three home runs on June 15, 1983...
Milestones
Evans slugged his 300th career homer off Minnesota's Ken Schrom, on July 28, 1985...On June 27, 1987, Evans collected his 2,000th hit, off Mike Boddicker of the O's, a home run...On September 20, 1988, Evans hit the 400th home run of his career, off John Farrell of the Indians. In the same game, Chet Lemon hit his 200th homer.
Milestones
- September 20, 1988: 400th HR... Came off John Farrell, and in the same game that teammate Chet Lemon hit his 200th career homer.
Transactions
Evans was traded on June 13, 1976, to the Giants in a deal that netted the Braves flashy first baseman Willie Montanez.
All-Star Selections
1973 NL
1983 NL
Learn More about Darrell Evans
Search Amazon.com for Books about Darrell Evans ⇒
Search for Darrell Evans at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒
Sources used for the Darrell Evans Player Page:
The Sporting News, April 24, 1976
