Herb Washington was a track star.
In his days at Michigan State in the early 1970s, Washington was a NCAA and Big Ten champion sprinter.
Just 22 years old in 1974, Washington went from the track to the baseball diamond and eventually to the World Series.
Washington wasn’t a baseball player and yet Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley signed him and placed him on the big league roster. The speedster never used a bat or a glove in 105 games in his career.
For the 1974 world champion A’s, Washington stole 29 bases and scored 29 runs. It took him 28 games before he scored and run and stole a base in the same contest. He never had more than one stolen base in any game.
During the post-season, he was in five games and wasn’t able to steal a base or score. He was famously picked off first by Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
In Washington’s first outing of 1975, he swiped second and scored in the same game.
Oakland led 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth against Wilbur Wood and the Chicago White Sox. Washington entered the game for Sal Bando, who had walked. Washington stole second before Reggie Jackson hit a fly ball to center for the second out of the frame. Joe Rudi doubled and Washington scored to give the A’s a 3-1 advantage.
The A’s eventually won that contest 3-2 behind Vida Blue and National Baseball Hall of Fame member Rollie Fingers.
By May of 1975, the experiment with Washington was over. He appeared in 13 games scored four runs and stole two bases.
The Replacement Runner
Don Hopkins replaced Washington in the role of pinch-runner because he could play in the field and also bat.
Hopkins had 21 stolen bases and scored 25 times in 82 games in 1975. He did accomplish two things that Washington never did.
Before Washington was released, Hopkins stole second and third on April 20 in an A’s win over the Minnesota Twins.
Hopkins singled for his first and only big league hit in the second game of a doubleheader in Detroit as the A’s won 16-4 on July 22.
Entering the game as a pinch-runner in the sixth for Gene Tenace, Hopkins scored on a triple by Phil Garner. He stayed in the game in centerfield and singled off Fernando Arroyo in the eighth inning. He also had an at bat in the 1975 American League Championship Series as the A’s lost to the Red Sox.
Like Washington, Hopkins was gone early in his second season. He was in three games and was caught stealing once.
Unlike Washington, Hopkins played eight years in the minor leagues and had 296 stolen bases. He was with the Montreal Expos organization from 1970 to 1974. He was with the A’s from 1975 to 1977.