Earl Battey

Position: Catcher
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
6-1, 205lb (185cm, 92kg)
Born: January 5, 1935 in Los Angeles, CA
Died: November 15, 2003  in Ocala, FL
Buried: Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, CA
High School: Jordan HS (Los Angeles, CA)
Debut: September 10, 1955 (11,299th in major league history)
vs. NYY 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: September 27, 1967
vs. CAL 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Full Name: Earl Jesse Battey

Played For
Chicago White Sox (1955-1959)
Washington Senators (1960)
Minnesota Twins (1961-1967)

Awards and Honors
1960 AL Gold Glove
1961 AL Gold Glove
1962 AL Gold Glove

Post-Season Appearances
1965 World Series

All-Star Selections
1962 AL
1963 AL
1965 AL
1966 AL

View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1955

Brooks Robinson
Roberto Clemente
Ken Boyer
Rocky Colavito
Clete Boyer
Elston Howard
Sandy Koufax
Jim Bunning
Bill Virdon

All-Time Teammate Team

Coming Soon

Notable Events and Chronology 

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

October 6, 1965

Sandy Koufax declines to pitch the first game of the World Series against the Twins because the scheduled game occurs Yom Kippur, Dodgers lose 8-2

October 11, 1965

Willie Davis becomes the second player to steal three bases in a World Series game in 7-0 Dodger Win

October 13, 1965

Mudcat Grant does it all himself, hitting a three-run home run and pitching a 5 – 1 win at Minnesota to knot the World Series with the Dodgers after six games.

Biography

From 1961 through 1966 the durable Battey played in 805 of the Twins’ first 970 games despite injuries. Besides a perennial bad knee, several dislocated fingers, and a goiter problem (at times he ballooned to 60 pounds over his listed weight), he twice had cheekbones broken by pitched balls and wore a special helmet after 1962. In Game Three of the 1965 WS, he ran into a neck-high crossbar in Dodger Stadium while chasing a foul pop. He played the remainder of the series even though he could barely speak or turn his head.

A three-time Gold Glove winner, Battey topped all ML catchers in 1962 with a .280 BA, threw out 24 runners, and picked off 13. He had career highs of 26 homers and 84 RBI in 1963. He was the top vote-getter on the 1965 AL All-Star squad.

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

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