Frank Baldwin (baseball)

Frank DeWitt Baldwin (December 25, 1928 – November 18, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, a catcher who played one full season in Major League Baseball with the 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs. The native of High Bridge, New Jersey, threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg).

Frank Baldwin
Catcher
Born: (1928-12-25)December 25, 1928
High Bridge, New Jersey
Died: November 18, 2004(2004-11-18) (aged 75)
Beaver, Ohio
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 22, 1953, for the Cincinnati Redlegs
Last MLB appearance
September 5, 1953, for the Cincinnati Redlegs
MLB statistics
Batting average.100
Home runs0
Runs batted in0
Teams
  • Cincinnati Redlegs (1953)

Baldwin's full pro career lasted for a dozen seasons (1947–1956; 1958–1959). He originally signed with the Boston Braves, then played briefly in the Brooklyn Dodger organization before being selected by Cincinnati in the 1952 Rule 5 draft. As a member of the 1953 Redlegs, he played in only 16 games and batted 20 times, collecting two singles. The first was a pinch hit off Pittsburgh Pirates' lefthander Paul LaPalme on May 2;[1] the second came three weeks later, during one of his three 1953 starting catcher assignments, against Eddie Erautt of the St. Louis Cardinals.[2] Baldwin was Cincinnati's third-string receiver that year, playing behind Andy Seminick and Hobie Landrith. Ed Bailey and Hank Foiles, also rookies, also caught a handful of games for the Redlegs that season.[3] They would go on to long MLB careers.

Baldwin returned to minor league baseball in 1954, and played five more seasons, mostly at the Double-A level.[4]

Baldwin lived in both Hartwell and West Chester, Ohio, retiring in 1988 and moving to Beaver.[5]

References
  1. 1953-5-2 box score from Retrosheet
  2. 1953-5-23 box score from Retrosheet
  3. Retrosheet
  4. Minor league statistics from Baseball Reference
  5. Frank BALDWIN Obituary - Cincinnati, OH | The Cincinnati Enquirer Retrieved 2018-06-04.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.