Batting average .230 Role Baseball player Name John Bateman | Runs batted in 375 Home runs 81 | |
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Died December 3, 1996, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, United States | ||
John Alvin Bateman (July 21, 1940 – December 3, 1996) was an American Major League Baseball catcher. Listed at 6' 3", 210 lb., he batted and threw right handed.
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Born in Killeen, Texas, Bateman grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma. He signed with the expansion Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent in 1962. In 10 seasons he compiled a .230 lifetime batting average, and ended his career with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Houston Colt .45s
Bateman clubbed 22 home runs for the Modesto Colts in 1962, and made the Colt .45s out of spring training the following season as Jim Campbell's back-up behind the plate. Campbell, however, sputtered, and soon lost his starting job to Bateman. On May 17, 1963, Bateman caught the first ever no-hitter in Houston franchise history. Don Nottebart held the Philadelphia Phillies hitless in a 4–1 Astro win. For the season, Bateman batted .210 while leading his team with ten home runs and 59 runs batted in.
Houston Astros
Bateman split time behind the plate with Jerry Grote in 1964. In 1965, the Colt .45s moved into their new domed stadium team owner Judge Roy Hofheinz dubbed the Astrodome (named in honor of Houston's importance to the country's space program). To match with the meaning of the name, the Colt .45s were renamed the Astros. His first season with his newly renamed club, Bateman batted only .197 with seven home runs backing up Ron Brand at catcher.
In 1966, Bateman won back the starting catcher job, and set a franchise record with sixteen home runs by a catcher, a record that still stands today.
Montreal Expos
Bateman and Brand shared catching duties for the Astros through the 1968 season. On October 14, 1968, Bateman was drafted by the Montreal Expos as the sixth overall pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft; 52 picks later, the Expos selected Brand, and the two resumed their platoon in Montreal.
Like his unique first with the Astros, Bateman also caught the Expos' first no-hitter: the first of Bill Stoneman's two, on April 17, 1969 against the Philadelphia Phillies—in only the ninth game in the franchise's history.
Philadelphia Phillies
On June 14, 1972, Bateman was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Tim McCarver. He was released at the end of the season to make room for rookie prospect Bob Boone behind the plate.
The King and His Court
Bateman toured with the Fast Pitch softball team The King and His Court from 1977 to 1980. He acquired his softball skills while playing for the Texas State Amateur Softball Champion Houston Bombers.