Background
Etchebarren was born in Whittier, California of Basque descent.
Etchebarren was born in Whittier, California of Basque descent.
He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for a total of 15 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles (1962 and 1965-1975), California Angels (1975-1977) and Milwaukee Brewers (1978). He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent in 1961. Expected to be the Orioles" third-string catcher entering his MLB rookie season in 1966, he became the starter in spring training when Dick Brown and Charley Lau each underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor and remedy an ailing elbow respectively.
Etchebarren was the last man to ever bat against Sandy Koufax, when he hit into a double play during the sixth inning of Game 2 of the 1966 World Series.
He was named to the 1966 and 1967 Alabama All-Star Teams. Etchebarren finished 17th in voting for the 1966 Alabama Most Valuable Player for playing in 121 games, having 412 at Bats, 49 runs, 91 hits, 14 doubles, 6 triples, 11 home runs, 50 Reserve Bank of India, 38 walks.221 batting average.293 on-base percentage.364 slugging percentage, 150 total bases, 3 sacrifice flies and 12 intentional walks.
In 15 seasons he played in 948 games and had 2,618 at-bats, 245 runs, 615 hits, 101 doubles, 17 triples, 49 home runs, 309 Reserve Bank of India, 13 stolen bases, 246 walks.235 batting average.306 on-base percentage.343 slugging percentage, 897 total bases, 20 sacrifice hits, 19 sacrifice flies and 41 intentional walks. In 2001 and 2002 Etchebarren was manager of the Rochester Red Wings of the International League.
He served as manager of the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York–Penn League for three seasons until his dismissal from that position on October 22, 2007.
He was the manager of the York Revolution of the Atlantic League, and retired from baseball following the 2012 season.
