Darrell Evans

Third Baseman
San Francisco Spiders (STL, LA, MAN, ATL)
1971-1986

Statistical guru Bill James once called Darrell Evans “the most underrated player in baseball history.” While that’s almost certainly not true of his time in the UL, Evans enjoyed an impressive career while staying under the radar of most UL observers.

Darrell Wayne Evans was the sixth overall pick in the 1971 UL draft by the San Francisco Spiders, who liked his combination of power, selectivity at the plate, and defense. After a season and a half in AAA, Evans joined the big-league club midway through the 1972 season and became a fixture at the hot corner in San Francisco for the next decade — an era that coincided with the organization’s longest period of sustained success.

From 1973 to 1982, Evans quietly averaged nearly 4 WAR a season while batting in the heart of the order for the Spiders. His best season was 1974, when he delivered 5.6 WAR with 24 HR, 67 RBIs, and a career-high 93 runs scored, along with a .258/.381/.429 slash line. Evans was also a key component in the Spiders’ World Series victory that year, slashing .385/.556/.846 with 2 HR, 4 RBIs, and 5 R as the Spiders swept Atlanta to win the title.

Over that decade, you could pencil Evans in for 20-30 home runs, 60-70 RBIs, and an OBP that was 100 points higher than his batting average every year. He also played rock-solid defense, but won just a single Gold Glove, in 1981 — the cost of doing business when you play at the same position as Mike Schmidt during that time.

By the early 1980s, a series of minor injuries and a couple of major ones began to take their toll on his production and ability to stay on the field. In fact, he missed San Francisco’s improbable run to the 1980 World Series due to an elbow injury, which would have been his fourth post-season with the Spiders.

Prior to the 1983 season, the Spiders traded the 35-year-old Evans to St. Louis, where he made his fourth All-Star team and got another taste of the playoffs. He spent the next three years with three different UL teams while battling a myriad of injuries, including a broken elbow that cost him nearly the entire 1985 season.

Evans played his last major-league game in 1986, at age 39, and called it a career two years later after unrewarding stints in the minor leagues. By the time he retired, he was 20th on the all-time walks list; 14 of the 19 players ahead of him are already enshrined in Beachville. Evans was rarely great but consistently good, providing steady offensive production and strong defense over a long UL career. (Jeff Tonole)