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Donald Alvin Buford (born February 2, 1937) is an American former professional baseball player scout, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through , most notably as the leadoff hitter for the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won three consecutive American League pennants from 1969 to 1971 and won the 1970 World Series over the Cincinnati Reds. He also played for the Chicago White Sox and played in the Nippon Professional Baseball league from 1973 to 1976. Buford also played as an infielder and was a switch hitter who threw right-handed. In 1993, Buford was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
He began his college baseball career for the USC Trojans baseball team under legendary coach Rod Dedeaux, whose teams would win 10 College World Series. Buford became a regular in the 1958 and 1959 seasons. He played outfield and had a .323 batting average in 1958, on a Trojans team that won the College World Series, Dedeaux's first.
Buford continued to play football at USC, as both a defensive and offensive halfback in 1957 and 1958. He led the team in kickoff returns both years, and in 1958, he led the team in interceptions, punt returns, and rushing yardage as well. In a stellar 1958 performance against Notre Dame, he rushed for 34 yards, threw a touchdown pass, returned kicks and punts, and had two interceptions. He was named All-Pacific Coast that year. He played halfback for the national all-stars in the Copper Bowl. In May 1959, he received USC's Jacob Gimbel Athletic Attitude Award, given to a senior athlete for best attitude.
Dedeaux hired Buford as an assistant from 1985 to 1987. In 2001, he was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame for baseball.
Buford's sons Don Buford, Jr. (who played in the Orioles minor league system, before becoming an orthopedic surgeon) and Damon Buford (who played 2½ years for the Orioles) also played for the USC Trojans. A third son, Daryl, went to USC's Gould School of Law and became an attorney. Buford's wife, Alescia (Jackson) Buford graduated from USC rival UCLA with a law degree. Buford is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
As a rookie he hit .262, and in 1965 he hit .283, had 67 walks, and scored 93 runs to go along with 10 home runs, while hitting second in the White Sox batting order. In 1966, he Stolen base a career-high 51 bases (one fewer than the American League leader, Bert Campaneris) scored 85 runs, and led the AL in with 17, though his average fell to .244, while establishing himself as one of the league's top leadoff hitters.
In 1967, Buford and Ken Berry tied for the team lead with a .241 batting average on a White Sox team that battled the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins for the American League pennant, which the Red Sox won on the final day of the regular season. The White Sox were eliminated from pennant contention (perhaps due, in large part, to faulty offense; they led the majors with a 2.45 earned run average, but batted only .225) the final week of the season after losing a doubleheader to the lowly Kansas City Athletics on September 27.
In 1969, Buford hit a career-high .291 as the Orioles won the American League pennant. In the first game of the World Series against the New York Mets, Buford hit a leadoff home run against fellow ex-USC Trojan Tom Seaver—the first home run to lead off a World Series. (Dustin Pedroia, Alcides Escobar, and Jorge Soler, are the only other players to lead off a World Series with a home run, for the Boston Red Sox in 2007, the Kansas City Royals in 2015, and the Houston Astros in 2021 respectively.) Buford also drove in another run with a double as the Orioles won 4-1. However, he went 0-for-16 over the next four games, all won by the Mets for a seemingly impossible Series victory.
In 1970 Buford batted .272 with 17 home runs and a career high 109 walks. The Orioles gained redemption in the World Series, which they won over the Cincinnati Reds in five games. Buford, playing in four of those games, went 4-for-15, including a home run in Game Three, which Baltimore won 9-3. In 1971 Buford batted .290 with a career-high 19 home runs. He was also selected to the All-Star team for the only time in his career. Again the Orioles went to the World Series; this time, however, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated them in seven games. Buford collected six hits in this Series; two of them were home runs.
In each of the Orioles’ three pennant-winning seasons Buford scored 99 runs, leading the American League in that category in 1971. He hit .318, with two home runs, five runs scored and four RBI in the 1970 post-season against the Minnesota Twins and the Reds, and .300, with two home runs, four runs scored, and four RBI in the 1971 post-season against the Oakland Athletics and Pirates. He did not commit any errors in the field in his 15 World Series games.
Buford was the first Baltimore Oriole to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. He accomplished this feat on April 9, 1970 in a 13-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Buford also had the dubious distinction of being the first Oriole to strikeout five times in one game, on August 26, 1971. However, his Orioles defeated his former team, the Chicago White Sox, 8–7. He was fined by “Judge” Frank Robinson of the Orioles Kangaroo Court for his performance.
Buford remains one of the most respected individuals to teach the game of baseball. His number 9 was retired by the Daytona Cubs after the 2006 season.
He had front office and other minor league positions with the Orioles. Buford managed the Rookie League Team (Bluefield). He managed the Orioles' Single-A team (Aberdeen IronBirds), High-A team (Frederick Keys), and Double-A team (Bowie Baysox). Buford was assistant director of player development for five years, and farm director, all for the Orioles.
Buford's son Damon Buford also played in the major leagues, playing with the Orioles, Mets, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs from 1993 to 2001. Buford’s oldest son Don Buford, Jr. also played professional baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization for four years. He is now an internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and shoulder surgery.
In October of 2012, Don Buford, Sr. accepted a new position managing Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy in Compton, California. The academy focuses on baseball and softball training and education and is free to participants. He is now working on his own Community Organization, Educational Sports Institute, which is based in Watts.
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