Don Buddin was a shortstop for the Red Sox, Colt .45s and Tigers during the late 50's into the early 60's. He was an offensive contributor mostly, and was ok with the glove, though he seemed to be prone to game-breaking mistakes in the field.
His last major league appearance was in 1962 with Houston, then Detroit, and that's where the transactions stop on his Baseball Reference page.
But he wasn't through playing...in 1963 he was in Richmond, then the Yankees' AAA team.
The Spartanburg Herald-Journal of Weds. March 27,1963...
“The Detroit Tigers sold shortstop Don Buddin to the New
York Yankees’ Richmond farm club of the International League Tuesday.”
That solves that. But his SABR biography brings up a big dilemma for us for the 1964 season:
"1964, he went through a bewildering succession of ballclubs
all in the one year. He began the year with Columbus, Georgia, a Yankees
affiliate in the Southern League, but was released before the season started."
It appears he then went to Rochester: from the "On A Silver Diamond" site:
"Hedging their bets, however, the Wings went outside the
organization in order to add insurance. Ron Kabbes had retired, so the Wings
signed a glove man (Ron Stillwell) and a hitter (Don Buddin) to compete for the
utility role."
"(Later) Sisler made another acquisition when McGuire was temporarily
sidelined, getting shortstop Larry Burright on option from the New York Mets’
farm club in Buffalo. Burright, a strong fielder, looked to bolster the
defense, which had been porous in the early going. Don Buddin, who had been one
of the more notorious fielders, was cut."
After 19 games at Rochester, he seemingly goes to Indianapolis for 47 games, until heading for Denver. From the Spokesman-Review of Sat. Aug. 1, 1964...
“Don Buddin, who was sold to Denver by Indianapolis Monday,
put the game into extra innings…”
His Denver stay was extremely short, only five games, when he turns up in Toronto! From the Janesville Daily Gazette of Tuesday Aug. 11, 1964...
“SIGN DON BUDDIN TORONTO-The Toronto Maple Leafs of the
League announced Monday they have signed veteran shortstop Don Buddin”
So, from what I can gather:
1. He was released by the Yankees (Columbus)
2. He signed with Baltimore (Rochester) and was released again.
3. He signed with the White Sox (Indianapolis) and was sold to Milwaukee (Denver)
4. He was released(?) by Milwaukee (Denver).
5. He signed with Washington (Toronto)
Since Toronto also had a Milwaukee affiliation it could have been an organizational move.
Buddin finished in AA for the reds in 1965.
If anyone can fill in some holes in this timeline (or any of the others in the past posts) please do!
Again thank you for reading.
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