Don Lock

Don Lock was born in Wichita, raised in Kingman and played basketball and baseball at Wichita University. In 1955, he was a starting guard for Ralph Miller’s Shockers in the first ever game played in the roundhouse, now Koch Arena, against Phog Allen’s KU Jayhawks.  He was a three-sport letterman at WU, earning letters in basketball, baseball and track.

After his junior year, Lock played for the Boeing Bo-Jets in the NBC World Series.  He was spotted by major league scouts and signed with the New York Yankees for $22,500.

Lock broke into the majors at age 25 and had an eight-year career – four seasons with the Senators, three with the Phillies and one with the Red Sox. An outstanding outfielder, Lock hit 122 career home runs and drove in 373 runs. In 1963 and 1964, he hit 55 homers and drove in 160 runs for the Senators. He had a career batting average of .238 and a sterling .976 fielding percentage.

After retirement from baseball, Lock lived in Wichita and farmed in Kingman County.  He died in 2017 at the age of 81.

For more, read Don Lock’s Society for American Baseball Research bio.