February 26

1969 Topps #654 White Sox Rookie Stars (Carlos May/Don Secrist/Rich Morales)

On this day in 1944, Don Secrist was born.

Don has the distinction of making his debut in the first home game for the expansion Seattle Pilots on April 11, 1969. His first pitch in the majors was a wild pitch to Mike Hegan in the bottom of the sixth inning, which allowed Tommy Harper to move into second. Secrist ended up walking Hegan before getting Tommy Davis to ground out to second base. Don came back out in the seventh and appeared to settle down, getting Don Mincher to flyout to right field, Rich Rollins to ground out to the shortstop and Jim Gosger to fly out to center. The score was already 7-0 in the Pilots' favor, so nothing that Don Secrist did in his first game cost the Sox any ground. Wilbur Wood came out in the eighth and kept the score at 7-0, but the White Sox just couldn't manage to bring anyone across the plate.

Secrist's MLB career was over by June 27, 1970, when he was sent down to AAA Tucson. Don managed to stick around for a little over a season in the majors, as a reliever. His ERA was high, but only managed to record one decision over that time, a loss to the Minnesota Twins on July 16, 1969.


White Sox February 26th birthdays:

1898 - Lee Thompson
1944 - Don Secrist
1950 - Jack Brohamer