Buddy Blattner
| Buddy Blattner | |
|---|---|
St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Died: September 4, 2009 (aged 89) Chesterfield, Missouri | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 18, 1942, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1949, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Hits | 176 |
| Batting average | .247 |
| Games played | 272 |
| Teams | |
| Buddy Blattner | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Robert Garnett Blattner | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Robert Garnett "Buddy" Blattner (February 8, 1920 – September 4, 2009) was an American
Sports career
Table tennis
Blattner played table tennis in his youth, winning the gold medal in the men's doubles with James McClure at the 1936 World Table Tennis Championships.[1] The following year he won double gold at the 1937 World Table Tennis Championships in the men's team event and in the men's doubles with McClure.[2]
Baseball
A graduate of Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Blattner started his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals, making his big league debut in the 1942 season. Following a stint in the United States Navy, Blattner played for the New York Giants (1946–48) and Philadelphia Phillies (1949); he played primarily as a second baseman.
Broadcasting
Blattner turned to broadcasting after his retirement as a player, teaming with
Blattner was replaced on CBS by Pee Wee Reese following a dispute with Dean. Blattner continued to broadcast baseball for the Cardinals (1960–61), Los Angeles/California Angels (1962–68), and Kansas City Royals (1969–75) as well as on NBC's coverage of the 1964 and 1967 All-Star Games.
Personal life
In 1962, Blattner founded the "Buddy Fund", a charitable organization that supplies athletic equipment to disabled and underprivileged children in the St. Louis area.
See also
References
- ^ "ITTF_Database". Ittf.com. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ "Profile". Table Tennis Guide.
- ^ "The Buddy Fund – Official website". Buddyfund.org. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ Boggan, Tim (1999). "Hall of Fame Profile: Robert "Bud" Blattner (1979)". teamusa.org. USA Table Tennis. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ^ Buddy Blattner dies; ex-major leaguer was voice of the NBA's Hawks Archived September 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (September 4, 2009)
- ^ Finn, Chad (December 9, 2020). "Al Michaels, best known for his 1980 'Do you believe in miracles?' call, wins baseball's Ford C. Frick Award". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
Further reading
- Buddy Blattner at the SABR Baseball Biography Project
- Noland, Claire. "Buddy Blattner dies at 89; former major leaguer and longtime sportscaster", Los Angeles Times, Saturday, September 5, 2009.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Buddy Blattner at Find a Grave
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