Player Profile: Don Demeter

Donald Lee Demeter, born June 25, 1935 in Oklahoma City. He was a tall, 6’4″ gangly man who played in the majors for 11 years. He was a man who had a deep faith and was a member of the fellowship of Christian Athletes. His father was a painting contractor, and his mother a housewife. When he was about 10, his family moved to Denver. But soon after, his mom and dad were divorced and Don was sent to live with his grandmother back in OKC.

His mother married a man from New Hampshire and for one winter Don lived there but returned to OKC and lived with a foster family through his high school years. His foster father, George Stevens, was a Sunday School superintendent who helped instill in Demeter his deep faith. Don had an older brother who became a dentist, and also had an older and younger sister’s.

His interest in baseball began when he was in the fifth grade. The first time his school offered organized ball teams. He was always able to run faster than most of the kids. These were the days before kids were glued to TV sets, so most activities were outside. The kids just naturally went from baseball to basketball to football. Baseball was his best sport and he knew early that he wanted to be a ballplayer. He never doubted he would make the majors. Had he known the odds against it, he might have thought differently.

The self-confidence served him well. He had some family members who were very supportive. There was a AA team in OKC. Don and his uncle Leland went to see a lot of games. He got to watch players from all over the Texas league including one Don Hoak, who would be his roommate many years later when both played for the Phillies. Hoak was incredulous about this until Don showed him a scrapbook with his autograph in it from when he played for Ft. Worth.

Don’s high school team was pretty good, winning the state championship in both his junior and senior years. He played center field for them. 11 boys from the team signed professional contracts. 9 with the Dodgers and 2 with the Yankees. This was in a time when baseball teams had extensive systems and hundreds of kids in the pipeline. Of the 11, Demeter was the only one who made it to the bigs.

He was signed in 1953 by Bert Wells the Dodger scout for an 800-dollar bonus. In his first season, he went to Class-D Shawnee in the Sooner League. He only hit .223 but was promoted to Class-C Bakersfield where he had an excellent season hitting .267 with 26 homers.

He continued his climb up the loaded Dodger system the next season first at Pueblo Texas for two months and then was promoted to Mobile, an AA team in the Sothern Association, hitting .251 with 11 homers in half a season. He also played winter ball in both 1954 and 1955. In 56 he had an outstanding season at Ft. Worth. He batted .287 with 41 HRs and 128 RBIs. At age 21 he was called up to the Dodgers at the end of his season. He got 3 at-bats with the Dodgers. In his second AB, he hit a homer at Ebbets Field giving him a .500 avg there.

He spent the 1957 season with AAA St. Paul. His dad finally got to see him play when they visited Denver. He was supposed to be called up when St. Paul’s season ended, but with only 5 games left, that did not happen. The Dodgers moved to LA that winter and Don was doing his military service. He joined the team in LA but was sent down for a little more seasoning before their first eastern swing. Some of the older Dodgers were not happy with the move since they considered Brooklyn their home away from home. But the welcome in LA was warm.

Demeter was called back up and with both Snider and Furillo ailing, he got some playing time. He did not really impress with a .189 with 5 homers. In 1959 he finally got some steady playing time and notice in the press. Especially after a 3-homer performance against the Giants on April 21st. All three were 2 run jobs and one was an inside the parker. He was inconsistent but finished with 18 homers and 70 RBIs. His .256 BA was respectable.

He helped beat the Braves in the two-game playoff and then the World Series against the White Sox. He went 3-12 and called it his biggest thrill, as he played in all six games. He was prominent in trade talks after the year. It was rumored he was being sought by the Twins, but they backed out after rumors of him quitting baseball for the ministry surfaced. He started the 1960 season with the Dodgers, but a collision with Maury Wills on the third of July resulted in a broken wrist and effectively ended his year. He hit .276 in 168 at-bats with 9 homers.

Again, prominent in trade rumors after the 1960 season, but when the 1961 season began, he was still a Dodger. After a slow start though, he and 3rd baseman Charlie Smith were traded to the Phillies for Turk Farrell and light-hitting Joe Koppe on the 4th of May. Don was hitting only .172 at the time with one homer. But he blossomed in Philly ending up with 21 homers. He had his second 3 homer game with a solo, 2 and 3 run homers beating his old team, the Dodgers, and Sandy Koufax 19-10 on the 12th of September.

In 1962 he had his finest season in the majors, hitting .307 with 28 long balls, 107 RBI’s, and 85 scored. He finished 12th in the MVP vote. He also began an errorless streak which would get to 266 games, ending in 1965 when he was a Tiger. And then on a weird play in K, Charlie Finley had dogs retrieving balls on a line drive he caught, the grounds crew thought it was the last out and released the dog. His throw to McAuliffe got there about the same time as the dog and both skipped through his legs The dog could not be charged with an error, so it went to Demeter. The runner on second had advanced on the error.

He had 449 consecutive chances without an error. A record that stood until it was broken by Darren Lewis in 1994. Always a team player, he pointed to his RBIs as his most important stat, not his BA. He also stepped in at 3rd base when Andy Carey refused to play for the Phils and played 93 games there in 1962. Gene Mauch had high praise for his player. He went to Japan with Bobby Richardson in January of 1963 to spread the Gospel.

Again, mentioned in trade talks, the Phillies sent him and Jack Hamilton, who would later bean Tony Conigliaro while an Angel, to the Tigers for Jim Bunning and Gus Triandos. Tigers manager, Charlie Dressen, was delighted to get a player he considered one of the best outfielders in the majors. Bunning would go on to win 74 games for the Phils including a perfect game caught by Triandos.

Don did not start well in Detroit and he was panned many times in the press. Especially after Bunning threw his perfecto. But he recovered and finished with decent numbers, .256/22/80. He continued his strong faith and was a prominent member of the Christian Fellowship. Fans would send him Bibles which he would autograph and then add a proverb.

In 1965 he had a new manager, Bob Swift, due to Dressen’s having to leave the team recovering from a heart attack. Demeter had another decent year, although his ABs declined again. He went .278/16/58. In 1966, he was the fourth outfielder with Horton, Kaline, and Stanley the starters and Norm Cash manning first. He was traded again, this time to Boston on the 14th of June. The Red Sox sent Earl Wilson and Joe Christopher to the Tigers, who sent minor league pitcher, Julio Navarro along with Demeter.

Once again, the trade was lopsided as Wilson was stellar for Detroit and Demeter played only part-time.

His stay in Boston ended the next season, 1967, when he was traded to Cleveland for P Gary Bell. Bell would contribute to the Impossible Dream team in Boston. Don did not do well in Cleveland, as he only played in 51 games. Detroit wanted to buy him back, but his physical showed an irregular heartbeat, but at the time they thought it was more serious. The sale was canceled. He got a better diagnosis when he got home, and the Tigers wanted him back. But at age 32 and wanting to be with his family more, he decided to call it a career.

A well-respected player during his playing years, he became sort of a forgotten man after he retired. He became an insurance agent and started a swimming pool installation company his son now runs. He appeared in Old Timers games for the Dodgers and became a pastor in his church. He had an unsuccessful run at the state legislature in 1976. He was finally inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of fame in 1999.

His son Todd was drafted by the Yankees but never made it to the majors. He worked in his dad’s pool business until struck down by Hodgkin’s disease in 1996. He continued to be active in his church and his faith. He also noted that today, many players have an organized chapel service in the clubhouse prior to games. But it was not that way when he played and definitely not organized. Don passed away on Nov 29. 2021 at the age of 89.