Pavletich was signed by the Reds as a bonus baby in late 1956. The bonus rules dictated that he remain on the big-league 25-man roster for 2 seasons. It appears the Reds got around this the same way Jim Pagliaroni’s team did – farm him out to the military for those 2 years. After appearing in only 1 game for the Reds in April 1957, Don spent the rest of that year and all of 1958 in military service.
He returned to baseball in 1959 and spent the next 3 seasons in the minors, save for 1 game with the Reds in April 1959.
Don played for the Reds from the start of the 1962 season through the end of the 1968 season. In ’62 and ’63 he was primarily used as the backup 1st baseman.
He was back in the minors for the first half of 1964 (possibly to work on his catching skills, because after his return he was used almost exclusively as a catcher by the Reds).
Pavletich started about 40 games per season from 1965-67 as Johnny Edwards' backup (with Jimmie Coker starting a dozen or so as the 3rd catcher).
On August 28th, 1967 Johnny Bench made his major-league debut, starting 26 of the final 32 games behind the plate. That was the end of the line for the Reds’ other 3 catchers. Edwards was traded in the off-season, Coker retired, and although Pavletich was the starting catcher for the first 5 games of 1968, those were his last starts as a Reds’ catcher. He played a bit at first base that year, but was traded to the White Sox after the ’68 season for pitcher Jack Fisher.
Don was a backup catcher for the White Sox for 1 year and the Red Sox for 2 years. After the 1971 season he was one of 6 players (with George Scott, Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, Billy Conigliaro, Joe LaHoud) sent to the Brewers in return for Tommy Harper, Lew Krausse, and Marty Pattin. (Seems like a lopsided trade!)
Although Don has a card in the 1972 set featuring him as a Brewer, he never played for them, with his last game coming on 9/1/1971.
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