George Altman
George Altman | |||
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Outfielder | |||
Born: Goldsboro, North Carolina | March 20, 1933|||
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Professional debut | |||
MLB: April 11, 1959, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
NPB: 1968, for the Tokyo Orions | |||
Last appearance | |||
MLB: October 1, 1967, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
NPB: 1975, for the Hanshin Tigers | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .269 | ||
Home runs | 101 | ||
Runs batted in | 403 | ||
NPB statistics | |||
Batting average | .309 | ||
Home runs | 205 | ||
Runs batted in | 656 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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George Lee Altman (born March 20, 1933 in Goldsboro, North Carolina) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and Nippon Professional Baseball outfielder. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Altman's first professional baseball experience was with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues; he played three months for the team in 1955.[1]
Altman played for the Chicago Cubs (from 1959 to 1962, and from 1965 to 1967), St. Louis Cardinals (1963), and New York Mets (1964). In a nine-season MLB career, Altman had a .269 batting average with 101 home runs and 403 RBIs, in 991 games played.
He played professional baseball in Japan from 1968 through 1975, for the Lotte Orions and the Hanshin Tigers, where he had a .309 batting average with 205 home runs. Highlights from his NPB career included leading the Pacific League in hits (170), runs (84), and RBI (100) in 1968; and being named to the "Best Nine" Pacific League team in 1968, 1970, and 1971. He credited martial arts training for baseball success in Japan.
He is an alumnus of Tennessee State University[2] and currently resides in O'Fallon, Missouri.
Major League Baseball highlights
- National League All-Star player in 1961 and 1962.
- National League leader in triples (12) in 1961.
- First player to hit two home runs off Sandy Koufax in the same game (August 4, 1961).
- Hit a pinch hit home run during an All-Star Game in 1961.
- Named NL Player of the Month for June 1961 (.355, 10 HR, 29 RBI)
- Only player in 19-year span (from 1955 to 1973) other than Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Ron Santo to lead Cubs in RBIs in one season: Altman-96 (1961), Billy Williams-86, Ron Santo-83, and Ernie Banks-80.
See also
References
- ↑ "George Altman," Negro League Baseball Players Association. Accessed Oct. 7, 2017.
- ↑ "NAIA Players in the Pros". The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. 2005-09-10. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Baseball Library
- Japanese Baseball
- MLB 1961 All-Star Game
- NY Mets Database
Preceded by Joey Jay |
Major League Player of the Month June, 1961 |
Succeeded by Frank Robinson |