Don Wert

Donald Ralph Wert (July 29, 1938 – August 24, 2024), nicknamed "Coyote", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1971 as a third baseman, most prominently as a member of the Detroit Tigers where he was an All-Star player and was a member of the 1968 World Series winning team.

Although he was overshadowed by his contemporary, Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, Wert earned a reputation as one of the best fielding third basemen in Major League Baseball. He played his final season with the Washington Senators in 1971. He attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he played baseball for the Diplomats. He was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1958 and played several years in the minor leagues. He also led the team with 159 hits, had a .341 on-base percentage fueled by a career-high 73 walks, and even showed some power with hit 12 home runs. Wert had his best season as a batter in 1966, when he had a .268 batting average.342 on-base percentage, 20 doubles, 11 home runs, and 70 runs batted in. The pitch split Wert's batting helmet. He was carried off on a stretcher, spent two nights in the hospital, missed several games, and "was never the same hitter after that". He had never hit lower than .257 in five prior seasons, but his batting average dropped to a career-low .200 in 1968, as he managed only 107 hits in 536 at bats. He recorded a ninth inning, game-winning hit on September 17 to clinch the American League pennant. Wert also singled in Detroit's final run of the 1968 World Series, driving in Dick Tracewski with two out in the top of the ninth inning in St. Louis, completing the Tigers' comeback to top the defending Series champs, 4–1, winning the series, 4 games to 3. On July 9, 1970, Wert was involved in a bizarre play when Dalton Jones hit a fly ball into the upper deck with the bases loaded. What should have been a grand slam ended up being three-RBI single, as Jones passed Wert between first and second base. Jones was called out. Jones later blamed Wert, noting that Wert should have been halfway to second base, prepared to advance if it was a home run, and prepared to return to first if it was caught. Instead, Jones recalled that Wert was returning to first to tag up, and Jones passed Wert one or two steps past first base.

On October 9, 1970, the Tigers traded Wert and Denny McLain to the Washington Senators in an eight-player deal that brought Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodríguez, and Joe Coleman to the Tigers. Wert played 20 games for the Senators in 1971.