Page 218 - 1975 BoSox

DON BRYANT’S LOVE OF BASE- ball was evident at an early age. After seeing a high-school game as a rst-
grader, he was hooked and he set to work constructing a baseball from tobacco twine and a bat from an old axe handle. Don, the oldest of James and Retha Bryant’s four children, was born in rural Hamilton County, Florida, between Jasper and White Spring, on July 13, 1941. While school and sports took up much of his time, Don also managed to attend barber school at age 14, and once eligible at 161⁄2, became an apprentice. At 18, he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a master barber.
Bryant was o ered a scholarship to play football at Georgia, and although his father wanted him to attend college, Don preferred baseball, and after listening to scouts from many teams, including Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, his father agreed. Seventeen-year-old Donald Ray Bryant, a 6-foot-6 right-handed batter and thrower, signed with scout Bill Pierre of the Detroit Tigers in 1959. He felt fully prepared thanks to his high school coach, Don Cross, a former Giants minor leaguer, who was adamant about teaching the team fundamentals.1
Bryant had played rst base in high school and on American Legion teams until one day, in need of a catcher, he volunteered and threw out three baserun- ners.2 Assigned to Detroit’s Class-D a liate in Montgomery, Alabama, he was immediately struck by bad luck as he was hit in the right eye
during in eld practice, and for six months he could not see.3 For the next two years he battled in the low minors, moving from Montgomery to Decatur, keeping his batting average just above .200, while admittedly having trouble seeing the ball. Although his stock as a prospect may have dropped, he developed a reputation
as a good game caller, including a perfect game in Decatur in 1962 by pitcher Vern Orndor .
In 1962 Bryant had a healthy and productive year with Jamestown of the New York-Pennsylvania League, hitting .272 in 451 at-bats, and was rewarded with a promotion to Detroit’s Double-A a liate in Knoxville. For the combined 1963 and ’64 seasons, he hit a respect- able .260 in 427 at-bats. Bryant nished the 1964 season and began 1965 with Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. In midseason he was loaned to the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A team in Salt Lake City and later recalled by Syracuse. After the season the Tigers traded him to the Cubs, who optioned him to Salt Lake City. Overall, it was a disappointing season, with Bryant batting under.200 between Syracuse and Salt Lake City.
In Tacoma of the Paci c Coast League, Chicago’s new Triple-A a liate, for the 1966 season, Bryant started to impress. He threw out 10 of the rst 14 would-be base stealers and batted .313 with an OPS (on-base average plus slugging average) of .869 in 80 games. In July the Cubs brough him up and the 24-year-old Bryant was nally in the big leagues after seven minor-league seasons. He was encouraged by his manager, Les Peden, who told him that “only the best play in the big leagues and now you’re one of them.”4 A barber in the o season, he was missed by his teammates in Tacoma not only for his baseball skills but because he had been cutting their hair since
spring training. Bryant would now bring his barbering skills to the Cubs.
But Bryant would see little playing time. After he was called up, manager Leo Durocher told him that Randy Hundley was going to break the record for games caught by a rookie.5 Bryant appeared in only 13 games for the Cubs, hitting .308 in 26 at-bats.
Don Bryant
By John Contois
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