Vada Edward Pinson Jr. (August 11, 1938 – October 21, 1995) was an American professional baseball player and coach.

[1] The 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 170 lb (77 kg) Pinson, who batted and threw left-handed, combined power, speed, and strong defensive ability.

He attended Oakland's McClymonds High School, a school attended by Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson (a Pinson teammate in the major leagues for nine years), star centerfielder Curt Flood, and Basketball Hall of Fame center Bill Russell.

[6] Three days later, in the Redlegs' next game, he hit his first home run, a grand slam off Pittsburgh Pirates' starter Ron Kline at Forbes Field.

That year, the Reds won the league pennant, going 93-61 (a 26-game improvement) while gaining the right to play the New York Yankees in the 1961 World Series.

However, his season was marred by an embarrassing incident in which he took a swing at club reporter Earl Lawson, who suggested that Pinson would be able to hit for .350 if he went for bunts every so often instead of going for home runs along with questionable fielding.

On September 11, 1963, Pinson recorded his 1,000th career hit, doing so on a home run against Claud Raymond of the Milwaukee Braves.

Robinson noted in his autobiography Extra Innings a story of him and Pinson inviting then rookie Pete Rose to dinner during the season while helping to show him the ropes around the team and league.

Before his 26th birthday, Pinson had accumulated 1,177 hits, the 5th highest total for a 25-year-old player in MLB history, behind only Ty Cobb (1,433), Mel Ott (1,249), Al Kaline (1,200) and Freddie Lindstrom (1,186), all of whom were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

[16] Additionally, he had accumulated more hits than other 25-year-old players such as Baseball Hall of Fame members; Alex Rodriguez, Robin Yount, Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx and Orlando Cepeda.

[16][17] 1965 was a fair improvement for Pinson, as he played in 159 games while having 728 plate appearances and 669 at-bats, both career highs.

This was the final year with his teammate Frank Robinson, as Bill DeWitt traded him to the Baltimore Orioles on December 9, 1965.

The following year, he played in 156 games while having 178 hits, 35 doubles, 16 home runs, 76 RBIs, with a .288 batting average, .326 OBP and .768 OPS.

[20] In 11 years with the Reds, he had played in 1,565 games, garnering 1,881 hits on 6,335 at-bats while having 342 doubles, 186 home runs, 814 RBIs with 221 stolen bases for a .297 batting average.

Pinson recorded his 2,000th hit off Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Joe Gibbon in the bottom of the 7th inning on September 18, 1969.

On October 5, he was traded by the Indians (along with Frank Baker and Alan Foster) to the California Angels for Alex Johnson and Jerry Moses.

In 115 games with the Royals the ensuing season, he had 112 hits, 46 runs, 18 doubles, 41 RBIs, 21 stolen bases for a .276 batting average, .312 OBP, and a .686 OPS.

In his final game on September 28, 1975, against the Texas Rangers, he replaced Amos Otis in center field and played the position for three innings, having one at-bat against Stan Perzanowski in the 6th, grounding out.

He was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers, but he was released by the team on April 4, four days before the season started.

In an 18-year career, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and Kansas City Royals, Pinson appeared in 2469 games, compiling a .286 batting average, with 2757 hits, 1365 runs, 485 doubles, 127 triples, 256 home runs, 1169 RBI, 305 stolen bases, 574 walks, .327 on-base percentage and .442 slugging percentage.

[23][24] Highly respected throughout the game, he was later a coach for the Seattle Mariners (1977–80; 1982–83), Chicago White Sox (1981), Detroit Tigers (1985–91), and Florida Marlins (1993–94) after his playing days ended.