Dave Engle

[Seth Stohs]

Dave Engle was born on November 30, 1956, in San Diego. His father and Hall of Famer Ted Williams were best friends, so Engle has all kinds of memories around sports or fishing or more (article/Q&A). 

In 1978, he was the third-round pick of the California Angels out of USC (Southern California). In college, he was a part of USC's national championship team in 1978. He was also part of the USC football team that was a championship in 1974. 

In February of 1979, he was traded to the Twins with Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens and Ken Landreaux in exchange for Rod Carew. Just two years later, on April 14, 1981, in Seattle, Engle came in as a pinch-hitter for Hosken Powell in the top of the 9th inning and walked. He stayed in the game and played right field in the bottom of the inning. 

He received rookie of the year votes in 1981. He was a part-time player in 1982. In 1983, he played in a career-high 120 games including behind the plate for the first time in his career. 

Engle was named to the 1984 All Star team. The Twins lone representative in that game was Engle. He didn't play in the game. 

By 1985, Engle was a part-time DH and catcher for the Twins. Mark Salas was the primary catcher, Jeff Reed got some time, and Tim Laudner continued to get a lot of time behind the plate too. In addition, he would lob the ball back to the pitchers, which gradually became a bigger and bigger issue. Engle said he had a shoulder problem, but tests showed nothing. 

Quote
"Hopefully, it's just muscles in his shoulder and not a problem with his head," Twins manager Billy Gardner said at the time.""

Before the 1986 season, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Chris Pittaro and Alejandro Sanchez. The Tigers released him in August. He signed a minor-league deal with the Expos... He played in 59 games as a bench player. He played 34 more games for the Expos in 1988 before they released him in July. He signed with the Brewers right before the season started. He was soon called up, got into 27 games, and was released in July. He got a little Triple-A time with the Rangers' affiliate in Oklahoma City. In 1991, he played in one game for the Astros Triple-A club in Tucson. 

Following his playing career, he went into coaching. In 1995, he became the manager of the Astros' High-A affiliate in Kissimmee, Florida. The following season, he managed Double-A Jackson to a .500 record (70-70). He returned to a managerial role in 1999 for the Mets' Low-A affiliate, Capital City. They went 83-58, and in 2000, he moved up to High-A St. Lucie where the team went 81-58. He has also done some scouting. 

Did you know? Dave Engle and Tom Brunansky are brothers-in-law. Engle was the Angels sixth-round pick in 1978. Brunansky was the Angels' first-round pick that same year. 

In 2014, the Star Tribune's Dennis Brackin wrote an article on Engle. At the time, he was a major-league scout with the Orioles.

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