William J “Bill” Buhler

Feb 9, 1925 - May 19, 2003

Camp Mourns Passing of Bill Buhler
May 22, 2003

Los Angeles Dodgers Adult Baseball Camp will celebrate its 20th year this November with a bit of sadness due to the passing on May 17 of former Dodgers trainer Bill Buhler. "Bill was such a large part of our camp," said Nancy Gollnick, assistant camp director. "He was at that first camp in October 1983 and attended every camp until November 2001. He will be missed."

Not only was Buhler responsible for mending those blisters and icing down those strained muscles after each camp day for over 30 camp sessions, he designed the camp exercise regimen and exercise chart sent out to each camper to help prepare for camp. In honor of Bill�s contribution and dedication to the Dodgers and the Adult Baseball Camp, the Camp's Purple Heart Award was renamed in November 2002 to the Buhler Award.

Buhler joined the Dodgers in 1952 as a minor league trainer, became the big-league assistant trainer in 1957 and the head trainer in 1960.

"Bill Buhler was the standard by which other trainers measure their skills," said Dodgers team doctor Frank Jobe. "He played a great role in the comeback of Tommy John. He played a great role in my learning how to take care of the baseball player. I knew the medicine he knew how to manage it. He was my guide."

Buhler was credited with designing the Steve Yeager Throat Guard, now used by many catchers and umpires but originally created to protect Yeager after the catcher was impaled by the jagged edge of a broken Bill Russell bat.

A graduate of Valparaiso University, Buhler received numerous honors from the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society and the National Athletic Trainers Association and was the National League All-Star trainer in 1992.

Mass was held at 11 a.m. today, May 22, 2003 at St. Joseph's, located at 6220 E. Willow Street, Long Beach, CA., with internment at All Souls Cemetery, 4400 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA. The Buhler family requested that, in lieu of cards and flowers, donations could be sent to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease Research, Grand Central Station, Po Box 4777, New York, NY 10163

Sources: Ancestry.com and FindAGrave.com

08/21/2024 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52848059/william-j-buhler