- Bob Didier
Robert Daniel Didier (born
February 16 ,1949 inHattiesburg, Mississippi ) is a formercatcher inMajor League Baseball who played for three different teams between 1969 and 1974. Listed at 6' 0", 190 lb., he was aswitch-hitter and threwright-handed .Didier was a talented catcher whose promising career was cut short by a litany of injuries. He entered the majors in 1969 with the
Atlanta Braves , playing for them four years before joining theDetroit Tigers (1973) andBoston Red Sox (1974). In his rookie season, Didier appeared in a career-high 114 games helping his team to reach the National League West Division title. At the end of the season, he finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year vote (behindTed Sizemore ,Coco Laboy andAl Oliver and overLarry Hisle ) and also was named to the "Topps" All-Star Rookie Roster. After that, he suffered arm and back problems and played only in 133 games for the next five seasons. While in Atlanta, he became the preferred catcher ofknuckleball erJoe Niekro .In a six-season career, Didier was a .229 hitter (172-for-751) with 32 RBI and 32 runs without
home run s. As a catcher, he collected 1276 outs, 119 assists, and committed only nine errors in 1404 chances, for a solid .994fielding percentage .Following his playing retirement, Didier managed in the minor leagues for the Tigers, White Sox, Dodgers and Cubs organizations. In the majors, he has coached for the Athletics and Mariners, and also has worked as a catching coordinator in the
Arizona Diamondbacks system.In 2007 Didier was part of the coaching staff at Major League Baseball's Academy in
Tirrenia ,Italy . The academy, for 55 elite players from 17 countries inEurope andAfrica , was held from August 9 through August 30. The players were chosen by major league scouts at tryouts in Europe during the month of April. Didier joined Chinese Olympic team managerJim Lefebvre as well former major leaguersBarry Larkin ,Bruce Hurst , Lee Smith andJohn Cangelosi .ee also
*
Atlanta Braves all-time roster
*Boston Red Sox all-time roster ources
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/D/bob-didier.shtml The Baseball Cube]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/didiebo01.shtml Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/D/Pdidib101.htm Retrosheet]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2007-08-07-944960640_x.htm Names in the Game]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.