Father’s Day With The Bufords | This Father/Son Duo Has Flown Under The Radar For Decades
There are many father and son combinations that have reached the Major Leagues over the years. A few that come to mind are the Griffeys, the Bonds, and the Fielders. One family that has made terrific contributions to this game but seemingly go unnoticed are the Bufords. Don Buford played ten seasons in the Major Leagues – five with each the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles, the latter of which he won a World Series title with in 1970. His youngest son Damon spent nine seasons in the big leagues, collecting numerous “firsts” for Major League Baseball along the way. “All three of my sons made it, I’m a very proud dad.” Don reflected.
His oldest son, Don Jr. is an orthopedic surgeon and middle son Darryl is a lawyer. The elder Buford was always able to keep an eye on Damon’s development. “He spent a lot of time with me as a teenager when I was on Frank’s staff with the Giants. He connected with big leaguers early” Damon recalled.
Both men played for the University of Southern California where Don was a coach for the Trojans during Damon’s freshman year. “It was at that point where I knew he had a chance, he was playing Pac-10 baseball,” he said. It has always been a very strong father son bond but 1992 was special. Don was the skipper of the Hagerstown Suns which was the Double A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles that year and son Damon was the starting centerfielder. “He was going up, it was just a matter of when,” Don said of his son’s impending promotion to the big leagues.
1993 was a banner year for the Bufords as Don was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame and Damon made his Major League debut. “Being in the Big Leagues was great but seeing my dad inducted into the Hall of Fame that season was really special” Damon shared.
Aside from playing in the first Arizona Fall League in 1992 with Dusty Baker as his manager, Buford was part of another big league first. On his 27th birthday while playing for the Texas Rangers they played host to the San Francisco Giants in the first ever interleague game. In the second inning Buford reached on a fielder’s choice and then swiped second base for the first ever stolen base in interleague play. “I guess it’s kind of cool, but it was more about being in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Moving into the next decade, Buford again found himself in the right place at the right time. On March 29, 2000 now with the Chicago Cubs they faced the New York Mets in the regular season opener in Japan. Buford delivered a first-inning single that scored fellow bro Eric Young. It was the first hit and RBI not only of the new millennium but also the first in the major leagues outside of North America. “I fouled off a bunch of pitches to the left side from Mike Hampton and then I lined one to the right side and it fell for the hit,” Buford recounted about the lengthy at-bat.
Aside from his dad, Buford had a couple of other favorites. “I looked at Eric Davis in centerfield and that’s who I wanted to be like,” Buford mentioned. “Once I got to the show, guys like Mark McLemore, Harold Baines, Harold Reynolds were very good to me,” he added.
July 4, 2021 was a very special day for the Buford family. Don, Damon, and Mrs. Buford took in a game at Anaheim against the Orioles. It was the first time that Don and Damon were ever spectators at a game together. One of them was always on the field in uniform when the other was watching.
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