Happy Baseball Birthday..John Bateman

Today's Happy Baseball Birthday! is former big league catcher John Bateman.

John Alvin Bateman was born on July 21, 1940 in Ft. Sill (Lawton), Oklahoma.

John was signed by the Houston Colt '45s as a amateur free agent in 1962.

Bateman made his big league debut for Houston on April 19, 1963, at the age of 22.

In 128 games as a rookie, Bateman collected 85 base hits, 8 doubles,  6 triples, 10 home runs, and 59 RBI in 404 at bats.

John also made Houston baseball history by catching the clubs first ever no hitter, pitched by the Colt .45s Don Nottebart  on May 17, 1963, a 4-1 win over the Phillies.

John had his best year in Houston in 1966, batting .279, with 121 hits, 17 home runs, 70 RBI, and 24 doubles in 433 at bats.

In 1969 the expansion Montreal Expos drafted John off the Astros roster with the 6th pick.

In just the teams 7th game of 1969 Bateman caught his second no hitter, this time by the Expos Bill Stoneman, against, ironically, the Phillies, on April 17, 1969.

John led all National League catchers in double plays turned in 1966 (14), 1970 (19), and 1971 (12).

John was traded by Montreal om June 14 of the 1972 season to the Phillies for catcher and future Hall of Fame broadcaster Tim McCarver.

John's final big league game was on October 3, 1972, at the age of 32.

In his ten year big league baseball career, John Bateman started 923 games behind the plate, catching a total of 7, 941 innings, with a fielding percentage of .982.

At the plate John collected 765 base hits, 123 doubles, 18 triples, swatted 81 home runs, drove in 375 base runners, and scored 250 runs, in 3,330 at bats.

One reason that I selected John Bateman today is the Twitter feed @1969Expos

This Twitter page is a great honor to the late Expos catcher, who pased away much to young on December 3, 1996, at the age of 56,  In Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

I had the pleasure of talking about John Bateman, the old Astros and Expos, with the man behing @1969Expos , Mr. Ken Webster.

Ken is a terrific baseball fan, and his knowledge of the game, and his tweets are a true honor of the former big league catcher.

If you're a baseball fan on Twitter, follow @1969Expos, youll enjoy the info very much.

In addition to Mr. Webster, information for this blog was obtained by some good baseball sites, baseballreference.com , The Baseball Alamanac, AstrosDaily.com , and Wikipedia. 

Happy Baseball Birthday! John Bateman!

PLAY BALL!

Jimmy Rollins is the Phillies All-Time Hit King

Congratulations to Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who collected his franchise record 2, 235th base hit today vs the Chicago Cubs.

Rollins, the 2007 National League MVP, singled off former Detroit Tigers RHP Edwin Jackson in the 5th inning, passing Phillies Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt.

The Phillies top five hit leaders in history are... #5, Del Ennis, 1,812.. #4, "Big Ed" Delahanty, 2,213... #3, my favorite Phillies player...Richie Ashburn, 2,317, Schmidt, 2,234, and Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins, the Phillies second round draft pick.in 1996,  has always been one of my favorite of the current big league players.

Rollins loves the game, always seems to be having fun on the ball field, and he wears #11...my favorite baseball uniform number.

Congratulations Jimmy!

PLAY BALL!

Happy Baseball Birthday....Johnny Oates

Today's Baseball Birthday is former big league catcher and manager Johny Oates.

I remember watching Johnny Oates catching in the big leagues in the 1970s, mostly for the Phillies and the Dodgers.

Johnny Oates was born on January 21, 1946, in Sylva, North Carolina.

Oates played baseball at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round, pick , #10, in the 1967 Amateur MLB Draft.

Johnny Oates made his big league debut with the Orioles as a pinch hitter on September 17th, 1970, getting a single of the Washington Senators Dick Bosman in the 9th inning if a 2-0 Washington win.

Johhny Oates was a good big league catcher, playing with the Orioles, Braves, Phillies, Dodgers, and Yankees.

In 11 years, Oates collected 410 big league hits in 593 games, hitting 14 HR and 126 RBI.

Behind the plate Oates was a good fielding catcher.

In 533 games, Oates compiled a .987 fielding %,  playing 3, 955 innings, with 2,416 put outs in 2,729 on chances.

Oates only committed 36 errors, and collected 277 assists in his big league career.

Johnny Oates played his final game as a big leaguer on May 24, 1981.

In 1991 Oates took over as mananger of the Orioles, and in 4 years had a 291-270 record.

Oates took over the managerial reigns of the Texas Rangers in 1995, leading the club to thier first ever playoff appearance in 1996.

 Oates wad named Co-Manager of the year in 1996, sharing the award with the Yankees Joe Torre.

Oates managed the Rangers into 2001, compiling a 506-476 record.

Johnny Oates was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2001, and was given just months to live.

He passed away on December 24th, 2004.

Today we celebrate the life of Johhny Oates.

Happy Birthday Johnny!

Happy Baseball Birthday.....Schoolboy Rowe

Today we celebrate the Happy Baseball Birthday of former big league pitcher Schoolboy Rowe.

Lynwood "Schoolboy" Rowe was born in Waco, Texas, on January 11, 1910.

I always feel bad that Schoolboy Rowe seems to get forgotten in Tigers history, myself included.

On April 15, 1933, Schoolboy made his big league debut at age 23 with Detroit,  a spectacular six hit, 3-0 shutout over the Chicago White Sox at Navin Field.

Rowe had a good rookie season, a 7-4 record, 3.58 era, in 19 total games for the Tigers.

1934, Schoolboy's second season, was his finest in baseball, producing a 24-8, 3.45 era for the American League Champion Tigers.

In the 1934 World Series, Rowe had a 1-1 record, 2.95 era, as Detroit lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.

Row pitched  for the Tigers through the 1941 baseball season,  and part of 1942, compiling a 105-62 record, with a 4.01 era in ten years.

Row went on to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers in part of 1942,  and then finished up with the Philadelphia Phiilies, in 1943, 46-49.

Schoolboy Row finished his 15 year big league career with a W/L of 158-101 and a 3.87 era.

Lynwood "Schoolboy" Rowe died of a heart attack at the age of just 50, on January 8, 1961, in El Dorado, Arkansas.

Today we say a Happy Birthday to the "Schoolboy," a Detroit Tiger forever.