Don Kainer

Donald Wayne Kainer (born September 3, 1955) is an American former baseball player who pitched for the Texas Rangers in 1980.

Amateur career Kainer was drafted out of Milby High School in Houston by the Houston Astros but chose instead to accept a full scholarship to play college baseball for the Texas Longhorns. He was the team's fourth starting pitcher as a freshman and helped them win the 1975 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. He was selected after his junior year in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft and assigned to the Tulsa Drillers to start his professional career.

Professional career On July 1, 1977, in Kainer's first professional game, he threw a complete game shutout for the Drillers against the Shreveport Captains.

Kainer was promoted to the Major Leagues along with pitchers Brian Allard and Jerry Don Gleaton when rosters expanded in September 1980. He made his Major League debut on September 6, 1980, pitching an inning in relief of Sparky Lyle at Milwaukee County Stadium. His next three appearances would be as a starting pitcher, allowing only one run in each outing; they would also be the final games of his Major League career. Kainer spent the entire season in Triple-A with the Wichita Aeros His 29 home runs allowed in 1981 were more than all but one other pitcher in Minor League Baseball and ten more than any other pitcher in the American Association. He admitted to reporters that his experience in Wichita damaged his confidence. A Cincinnati Enquirer article later named Kainer as anecdotal evidence of how Lawrence–Dumont Stadium's dimensions could derail a promising young pitcher's career.

Despite only playing in the Rangers' farm system, Kainer played his home games in four different Triple-A cities between 1979–1982. His son, Andrew, played college baseball for UT Arlington and professionally in the Florida Marlins' farm system.

His brother, Ron, played college baseball at Sam Houston State and his nephew, Carson, played for the 2005 champion Texas Longhorns and in the Cincinnati Reds' farm system.