Epstein was born in the Bronx, New York, and is Jewish. His parents were Jack and Evelyn. When he was three years old, his family moved to Hartsdale, New York, and then when he was 13 to Fairfax in Los Angeles, California. Epstein said of his father, who refused when Epstein was still a minor to sign a contract on his behalf with the Dodgers: "He wanted me to be a lawyer, rather than a bum."
High school
Epstein played for the baseball and football teams while attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1961.
College and Olympics
Epstein played baseball at the University of California-Berkeley, where he majored in Social Psychology and graduated in 1964. Although his.375 batting average in led to a contract offer by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he decided to finish college. The following year, his senior year, he batted.384 and was named an All-American. He played on the gold medal-winning U.S. baseball team at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
He was first brought up for six games by the Baltimore Orioles in, at the age of 23. After the Orioles tried in vain to convert him to the outfield, they demoted him to Rochester again. The outspoken Epstein refused to report, going home to California instead. He was traded in May 1967 with Frank Bertaina to the Washington Senators for Pete Richert. Later that season, in his first at-bat against the Orioles, Epstein hit a grand slam. In he was 4th in the league in HBP. He had arguably his best season in with the Senators, when in only 403 at bats he hit 30 home runs, had 85 runs batted in, and hit for a.278 batting average with an excellent.414 on-base percentage and.551 slugging percentage. He was fourth in the league in hit by pitch, and he hit a home run every 13.4 at bats. He was 25th in voting for the American League MVP. This was also the only year in which the reconstituted Senators finished above.500. In 1970 he was second in the league in being hit by a pitch, while hitting 20 home runs, and leading all AL first basemen in range factor. In May 1971 he was traded along with Darold Knowles to the Oakland Athletics for Frank Fernandez, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash. In 1971, while hitting 18 home runs in 329 at bats, he was hit by a pitch 12 times, leading the league. In he hit 26 home runs for the world champion Athletics. He hit a home run every 17.5 at bats, had a.490 slugging percentage, a.376 on-base percentage, 62 walks, and was hit by a pitch 11 times. He was 16th in voting for the American League MVP. Going hitless in 16 at bats during the World Series in addition to his feud with manager Dick Williams over lack of playing time resulted in the Athletics fulfilling his trade demand by sending him to the Texas Rangers for Horacio Piña on December 1, 1972. Additionally the A's wanted to free up the first base position for Gene Tenace who was the star of that same Fall Classic. In May he was traded by the Rangers with Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek to the California Angels for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen. In 1973 he was seventh in the league in hit by pitch. On May 4,, he was released by the Angels. In 907 games over nine seasons, Epstein posted a.244 batting average with 362 runs, 130 home runs, 380 RBI, 448 bases on balls,.358 on-base percentage and.424 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a.991 fielding percentage playing every inning at first base. In 13 postseason games, he hit only.108 with two runs scored, one home run, one RBI and nine walks. In 1991 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a member of the United States National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Through 2010, he was sixth all-time in career home runs among Jewish major league baseball players.
After baseball
In 2007, Epstein began a hitting school. His "rotational hitting" instruction has been used around the country, particularly on the West Coast.
Miscellaneous
Epstein wore a black armband during the 1972 playoffs in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by terrorists at the Munich Olympics. Teammates Ken Holtzman and Reggie Jackson also wore the armbands. A's owner Charles Finley, who usually demanded conformity from his players, gave them the OK to wear the memorial items until the season ended with the A's World Series victory.
Epstein had great success against Joe Niekro during his career, going 7 for 10 with four home runs and four walks.
Epstein opened Big Mike's Texas Barbecue in El Toro, California, in the big red barn on El Toro Road after his baseball career was long over, but the restaurant did not last very long. It's now Big Shots, a pool hall.
