Milwaukee’s Best, Part 2: The 50 Best To Play For Braves, Brewers: 40-31
By Phil Watson
Darrell Porter, shown on a 1973 Topps baseball card.
37. Darrell Porter, C
Brewers 1971-76
Darrell Porter was the Brewers’ first-ever draft pick, going fourth overall in 1970 out of Southeast High School in Oklahoma City and rocketing through the talent-poor expansion organization to the majors by September 1971.
He became the Brewers’ regular catcher in 1973 at age 21 and finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in the American League after hitting .254/.363/.457 with 16 homers and 67 RBI in 117 games.
Porter was an All-Star in 1974 during a season in which he hit .241/.326/.377 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI.
His hitting continued to slide, however. He hit just .232/.371/.418 with 18 homers in 1975 and mustered a .208/.298/.288 line in 1976.
Porter was sixth in the AL in walks in 1975.
In December 1976, he was dealt along with right-hander Jim Colborn to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for utilityman Jamie Quirk and outfielder Jim Wohlford, with the Brewers also getting left-hander Bob McClure as a player to be named later.
Porter was a three-time All-Star with the Royals before signing as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals in December 1980. He was the World Series MVP when the Cardinals beat the Brewers in 1982.
Porter was released by St. Louis in November 1985 and spent two seasons with the Texas Rangers before retiring after the 1987 season.
Porter battled drug addiction through his career and into retirement and died of a cocaine-induced heart attack after crashing his car into a tree stump in Sugar Creek, Mo., in August 2002 at the age of 50.
Here are Porter’s statistics from his six seasons with the Brewers:
| Year | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 19 | 22 | 80 | 70 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 20 | .214 | .300 | .329 | .629 | 80 |
| 1972 | 20 | 18 | 63 | 56 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 21 | .125 | .210 | .196 | .406 | 23 |
| 1973 | 21 | 117 | 416 | 350 | 50 | 89 | 19 | 2 | 16 | 67 | 5 | 2 | 57 | 85 | .254 | .363 | .457 | .820 | 133 |
| 1974 ★ | 22 | 131 | 490 | 432 | 59 | 104 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 56 | 8 | 7 | 50 | 88 | .241 | .326 | .377 | .703 | 103 |
| 1975 | 23 | 130 | 511 | 409 | 66 | 95 | 12 | 5 | 18 | 60 | 2 | 5 | 89 | 77 | .232 | .371 | .418 | .789 | 123 |
| 1976 | 24 | 119 | 449 | 389 | 43 | 81 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 61 | .208 | .298 | .288 | .586 | 74 |
| TOTALS | 537 | 2009 | 1706 | 224 | 391 | 63 | 12 | 54 | 226 | 19 | 16 | 261 | 352 | .229 | .334 | .375 | .709 | 105 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/18/2015.
Next: 36. Versatile Outfielder With Speed