Dwight Leroy Siebler was born in Columbus, Nebraska on August 5, 1937, as the third of four children of William and Viola Siebler. Dwight Siebler passed away on June 16, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 83.
Siebler was a basketball and baseball player at Omaha North High School, but he pitched all over Nebraska for various summer and legion teams. Recruited by a number of college baseball programs, Siebler accepted a scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska where he put his name in the school’s record books on May 18, 1957. He threw the first no-hitter in the school’s history, against Oklahoma. The final score was 1-0, but unfortunately Siebler was on the losing end of the game. In an interview Siebler said
With a man on first base, the batter bunted, I fielded the ball and threw it into right field, and the runner scored.
SABR Bio
Siebler passed up his senior year of eligibility to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for a $20,000 bonus and a $400-a-month minor-league contract in July of 1958. According to Siebler, “I could throw the hell out of the ball when I was younger. In college and my first two years of pro ball I threw maybe 90 percent fastballs.” Siebler started his professional career in 1959 with the class C Bakersfield Bears and back then they (MLB) apparently didn’t baby the players and Siebler pitched in 36 games, starting 17 and throwing 179 innings and striking out 190 batters. That earned Siebler a promotion in 1960 to class A ball where he whiffed about a batter per inning, allowed just 6.9 hits per nine innings, and led the Eastern League in ERA (2.31) while splitting his time between starts and relief outings. Siebler spent 1961 in AAA ball but could not make the starting staff and pitched primarily as a reliever. But it in the process he learned to throw a curve ball from Al Widmar and a screwball-change from Ruben Gomez.
While with the Phillies in Spring training in 1962 Gregory H. Wolf wrote the following in Siebler’s SABR BIO.
Pitchers are always just one throw away from a career-altering or career-ending injury. Siebler’s excitement soon transformed into bitter disappointment. “My arm wasn’t hurting at all during camp. In the first exhibition game, I was scheduled to pitch the last three innings against, ironically, the Minnesota Twins,” said Siebler. “Harmon Killebrew was the first batter up so I figured I’d blaze one by him. Well, I uncorked one and hurt my arm again.” In excruciating pain, Siebler had reinjured muscles leading from his elbow to his wrist. Physicians determined that he had ripped a buildup of scar tissue, but they did not prescribe surgery.
Siebler almost made the 1962 Phillies team but the arm injury hindered his progress and he was one of the last cuts of the spring and ended up spending the season playing for three different AAA teams. It was a frustrating season for Siebler who seemed to have lost 3-5 MPH off his fastball and it turned out that he never regained that 94-95 MPH fastball he once had. But with his arm pain free, the Phillies purchased his contract at the tail-end of 1962 but it was too late for him to pitch for the team.
In late August 1963 while pitching for the AAA Arkansas Travelers he was told that he had been sold to the Minnesota Twins and he was headed to the big leagues. Siebler was ecstatic about the trade.
On August 26, 1963 Dwight Siebler made his MLB debut in the second game of a DH in relief of Jim Kaat in a game at D.C. Stadium against the Washington Senators. Siebler’s debut didn’t go all that smoothly as he inherited runners on first and second with one out. Siebler retired the first batter but the nerves kind of got to him and he walked Don Lock to load the bases and then plunked Don Zimmer with a pitch forcing in a run, he then walked Dick Phillips forcing in still another run before retiring the next batter for the third out of the inning. Twins skipper Sam Mele still had faith in Siebler and gave him a start three days later and Siebler pitched a 3-hit shutout in a complete game victory over the Washington Senators. Siebler not only got his first major league win but he also got his first hit, first RBI and his first (and last) run scored. Siebler won two of three decisions for the third-place Twins, surrendering only 25 hits in 38+ innings, and carved out a sparkling 2.79 ERA earning him a shot in the 1964 starting rotation.
However; 1964 did not go as Siebler would have hoped, here is what he had to say about Spring Training .
“We had a pitching coach — Gordon Maltzberger — and all I can say is that he was not good. Sam Mele didn’t know anything about pitching. Maltzberger puts me in the bullpen and changes my delivery two different ways. First he didn’t like my follow-through because I flopped clear to the left like Bob Gibson. That is how I generated my power, but I wasn’t in ideal fielding position. Then he wanted me to throw a slow curve instead of my power curve. Well, I had been working on a slow curve for years and it never worked. By the time spring training was over, I couldn’t get anyone out. I lost my fastball, my power curve, and my slow curve was not even average. I wasn’t a good pitcher.”
Siebler started the season in the bullpen but after giving up six runs in his first five appearances he found he was headed for the AAA Atlanta Crackers and he stayed there until September when he was recalled and appeared in a few games. Siebler started the 1965 season in AAA Denver where he was 11-7 and earned a call-up to Minnesota in late July but after six appearances was sent back to Denver. He was called up again in September but it was past the deadline for playing in the 1965 World Series. Still, the team voted Siebler $2,653 as his share of the proceeds. The up-and-down season between Minneapolis and Denver left Siebler with a sour taste. In his SABR Bio Siebler is quoted as saying-
“[Club owner and general manager] Calvin Griffith told me that I could go with the team to Los Angeles, but could not suit up. I could sit on the end of the bench in civilian clothes,” said Siebler. “I was so mad that I told him that I didn’t want to go, though I wish now that I would have gone. My temper got the best of me. And then I told him that I really wanted to be traded.”
1966 was the only season that Siebler spent in the big leagues from beginning to end and he pitched in 23 games, including 2 starts but he was the last man on a ten man pitching staff. He had a 2-2 record and picked up the only save of his major-league career. Siebler was convinced that he was getting stale because he was not pitching enough. In 1967 Siebler made his final two appearances in the majors before he was sent outright to the Denver Bears prior to May 15, when rosters had to be trimmed from a maximum of 28 to 25 players. (This practice was eliminated the following season.) “I lost my interest and capability by not pitching much,” said Siebler. “I just didn’t have the zip anymore.” He won only four of 14 decisions and posted a 4.56 ERA in 142 innings for the AAA Denver Bears.
At the young age of 30, after pitching in all or parts of five big-league seasons, Siebler hung up his spikes. In 48 career appearances, he logged 117+ innings and posted a 3.45 ERA. Siebler returned to his family and home in Omaha, where he had spent almost all of his life. “I probably wouldn’t have quit if I didn’t have my family’s business to fall back on,” he said. But the hurler was far from retired. He successfully transitioned to his post-baseball career, taking over his family’s heating and air-conditioning business. In 1994 he was inducted into the Nebraska Baseball Hall of Fame. Siebler’s obituary mentions his bowling skills and I found where early Twins Media Guides mention his bowling prowess and that he won some MLB bowling tournaments.
Dwight Siebler is survived by wife Caryn, sister Norma and her husband Richard Goll, children Lori, Wendi (Rowe), Timothy, David, Michael and Mitchell (Christina) Nida, several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
We at Twinstrivia.com want to express our condolences to the Siebler family, friends, and fans. Thank you for the wonderful memories Dwight Siebler.
RIPBaseball.com obituary for Dwight Siebler
Well done, John, a very fitting piece to commemorate Dwight. I hope his family gets to see it.