#535 Ed Brinkman

Long time Senator shortstop mainstay...traded to Tigers for 1971 season ending a long time tenure as Washington’s shortstop...trade boosted the Tigers veteran crew for a few more years and destroyed the Senators...Brinkman while not huge improvement at the bat from incumbent César Gutiérrez he did bring a good glove, stability, and just a bit more power thanks to Detroit’s short fences....thought of so highly finished 9^th in MVP voting despite hitting .203 in 1972... did play in every (new) Senator season becoming a regular after his and their first season...struggled at the plate for many years never hitting above .230...a reformation came in the form of manager Ted Williams in 1969....for next two seasons hit .264 mark greatly above his career BA at the time...Had a career power surge with 14 dingers in his last full season 1974....shuffled about  with three teams in 1975...passed away in 2008....along with Chuck Brinkman first active playing brothers depicted in this blog.