Playing career

Etchebarren was born in Whittier, California of Basque descent. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent in 1961. Expected to be the Orioles' third-string catcher entering his MLB rookie season in 1966, he became the starter in spring training when Dick Brown and Charley Lau each underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor and remedy an ailing elbow respectively. Etchebarren was the last man to ever bat against Sandy Koufax, when he hit into a double play during the sixth inning of Game 2 of the 1966 World Series. Etchebarren helped the Orioles to win the 1966 and 1970 World Series, 1969 and 1971 AL Pennants and 1973 and 1974 AL Eastern Division.

He was named to the 1966 and 1967 AL All-Star Teams. Etchebarren finished 17th in voting for the 1966 AL MVP for playing in 121 games, having 412 at Bats, 49 runs, 91 hits, 14 doubles, 6 triples, 11 home runs, 50 RBI, 38 walks, .221 batting average, .293 on-base percentage, .364 slugging percentage, 150 total bases, 3 sacrifice flies and 12 intentional walks.

In 15 seasons he played in 948 games and had 2,618 at-bats, 245 runs, 615 hits, 101 doubles, 17 triples, 49 home runs, 309 RBI, 13 stolen bases, 246 walks, .235 batting average, .306 on-base percentage, .343 slugging percentage, 897 total bases, 20 sacrifice hits, 19 sacrifice flies and 41 intentional walks.

Managerial career

In 2001 and 2002 Etchebarren was manager of the Rochester Red Wings of the International League. He served as manager of the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League for three seasons until his dismissal from that position on October 22, 2007. He was the manager of the York Revolution of the Atlantic League, and retired from baseball following the 2012 season.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]