Batting average .167 Role Baseball player Name Pete Naton | Runs batted in 1 Home runs 0 | |
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Died December 10, 2013, Springfield, Massachusetts, United States | ||
Education College of the Holy Cross | ||
Peter Alphonsus Naton (September 9, 1931 – December 10, 2013) was an American professional baseball catcher who appeared in six Major League games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1953. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).
Naton signed with the Pirates on June 12, 1953, after graduating from The College of the Holy Cross. Four days later, he made his MLB debut as the starting catcher in the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Naton was hitless in three at bats against Chicago left-hander Howie Pollet. Naton appeared as a pinch hitter three days later, going hitless, and then spent the middle of the season in the minor leagues before his recall to Pittsburgh in September. On September 13, Naton collected his first Major League hit, a single off Ken Raffensberger of the Cincinnati Redlegs. He also drew two bases on balls and drove home his only MLB run batted in. All told, he came to bat 12 times for the Pirates, with two hits — both singles.
Naton spent the remainder of his career in the minors, almost exclusively in the Pittsburgh farm system; his lone break from the Pirates was a 10-game stint with the Dallas Eagles, an affiliate of the New York Giants. He retired after the 1958 campaign.
He was inducted into the Holy Cross Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.