Major Leagues
He was first brought up for 6 games by the Baltimore Orioles in 1966, at the age of 23, having hit over .300 with at least 29 home runs and 100 RBI in his first two minor league seasons.
After the Orioles tried in vain to convert him to the outfield (they already had Boog Powell at first base), they demoted him to Rochester again. The outspoken Epstein refused to report, going home to California instead, and did not play again until the end of May 1967, when he was traded by the Orioles with Frank Bertaina to the Washington Senators for Pete Richert. Later that season, in first at-bat against the Orioles, Epstein hit a grand slam.
In 1968 he was 4th in the league in hbp (9).
He had arguably his best season in 1969 with the Senators, when in only 403 at bats he hit 30 home runs (9th in the American League), had 85 Runs Batted In, and hit for a respectable .278 batting average (and .347 with runners in scoring position) with an excellent .414 on base percentage and .551 slugging percentage. He was 4th in the league in hbp (10), and hit a home run every 13.4 at bats. He was 25th in voting for the American League MVP. This was also the only year in which the reconstituted Senators finished above .500.
In 1970 he was 2nd in the league in hbp (13), while hitting 20 home runs.
In May 1971 he was traded by the Senators with Darold Knowles to the Oakland Athletics for Frank Fernandez, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash. In 1971, while hitting 18 home runs in 329 at bats, he was hit by the pitch 12 times, leading the league.
In 1972 he hit 26 home runs (3rd in the league) for the world champion Athletics. He hit a home run every 17.5 at bats (3rd in the AL), had a .490 slugging percentage (5th), a .376 on base percentage (6th), 62 walks (10th), and was hit by a pitch 11 times (2nd). He was 16th in voting for the American League MVP.
In November 1972 he was traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Horacio Piña. The A's wanted to free up the first base position for Gene Tenace, who was the star of the 1972 World Series. In May 1973 he was traded by the Rangers with Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek to the California Angels for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen. In 1973 he was 7th in the league in hbp (8).
On May 4, 1974, he was released by the Angels.
He was inducted as a member of the United States National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Through 2010, he was sixth all-time in career home runs (behind Mike Lieberthal) among Jewish major league baseball players.
Read more about this topic: Mike Epstein
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