#15 Bob Stinson, Catcher

You must have some talent if in June of 1965 the Kansas City Athletics draft you in the 3rd round, and the Washington Senators choose you again in the 1st round in January of 1966. Bob decided that he didn't want to sign with either club and was again selected, this time 15th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bob would work his way through rookie ball all the way to AAA Spokane in the Dodgers minors. On September 23, 1969 Bob was finally able to see the big leagues with the Dodgers. He would get a chance in 4 games in both 1969 and 1970, but with both Tom Haller and Jeff Torborg as regular catchers and Joe Ferguson coming up Bob was expendable. Right after the 1970 season, the Dodgers sent Bob to the Cardinals with Ted Sizemore for Dick Allen. A short time in St. Louis would find Scrap Iron moving to Houston in a trade for future one game Mariner manager Mariner Marty Martinez. A future with the Astros didn't seem apparent either when his contract was purchased by the Montreal Expos. Bob was given sparing playing time with the Expos, and was traded to the Kansas City Royals before the 1975 season. For two seasons in KC, there was a lot of time on the bench as Bob was used only at times and not on a regular basis.

On November 5th of 1976, the Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays were able to select players from current MLB rosters in the expansion draft. With their 13th pick in the draft the Mariners selected Bob from the Royals organization. As a veteran wit big league experience, Bob was immediately thrust into the job of everyday starting catcher for the new club. "Scrap Iron" would hold it down behind the plate for the first two Mariner seasons in the Kingdome and on the road. Before the 1979 season the M's picked up Larry Cox from the Cubs, and Bob was starting to play less. By the next year in 1980 the Mariners also now had Jerry Narron in the catching rotation and Stinson was basically forgotten about and was not playing nearly at all. Bob saw his last action on August 1st of that 1980 season, and was subsequently released by the team a week later. Bob was done with baseball by the time the 1980 season was done, but Bob will always be part of the original Mariner history.