Matt Batts

Matthew Daniel Batts (October 16, 1921 – July 14, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1947 through 1956 for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, with brief trades to Baltimore and Cleveland. A slap hitter and competent defensive catcher, Batts played mostly backup roles over the course of his career; during parts of ten MLB seasons, he appeared in 546 games with a .269 batting average, 26 home runs, and 219 runs batted in. He was the uncle of former major leaguer Danny Heep.

Path to the majors
Growing up in the sandlots of San Antonio, Batts batted and threw right-handed with exceptional speed. But in a fluke position change up, he found his niche behind the plate on a semipro team. He excelled as a freshman at Baylor University and was recruited by Red Sox scouts. However, in 1942 when he signed with Boston in exchange for paying his tuition, the Baylor team dropped him.

Batts' first season in the minor leagues was 1942, when he played for the Canton Terriers, Boston's affiliate in the Class C Middle Atlantic League. In 126 games, he batted for a .294 average, while hitting 10 home runs. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II from December 1942 through December 1945; he was stationed at Randolph Field in Texas.

In 1946 Batts played for the Lynn Red Sox in the Class B New England League, appearing in 98 games and batting .337 with 12 home runs. During 1947 he played for two Boston affiliates; the Scranton Red Sox of the Class A Eastern League, and the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class AAA International League. He only appeared in 8 games with Scranton, losing playing time to another catcher, before transferring to Toronto when their catcher was injured. With Toronto, Batts appeared in 110 games, batting .262 with 7 home runs. After Toronto's season ended, Batts was called up to Boston.

Boston Red Sox
Batts debuted with the Red Sox on September 10 of the season, striking out as a pinch hitter. The next day he caught both games in a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians and went 5-for-7 for the day – 3 singles, plus a double and a home run – with 5 RBI. He appeared in 7 games before the end of the season, batting .500 (8-for-16).

During the season, as backup catcher to Birdie Tebbetts, Batts appeared in 46 games while batting .314 with 1 home run and 24 RBI. The Red Sox and Indians finished the season with identical records of 96–58, and had a playoff game that was won by the Indians. Batts was using sparingly down the stretch run, having only 12 plate appearances during September, and he did not appear in the playoff game.

Batts had an increase in playing time the next two years; in he played in 60 games but only hit for a .242 average with 3 home runs and 31 RBI, while in  he appeared in 75 games and raised his average to .273 with 4 home runs and 34 RBI. Then in May of Batts was traded to the Browns after getting off to a slow start, hitting just 4-for-29 (.138) in 11 games. In his 5 seasons with Boston, he appeared in a total of 199 games with a .272 batting average, 9 home runs, and 96 RBI.

St. Louis Browns
Batts spent the remainder of the season with the Browns, his only year with the club. He played in 79 games and hit .302 with 5 home runs and 31 RBI. He helped break the color barrier by being among the first white catchers teamed with the American League's first black pitcher, Satchel Paige. During the offseason, Batts was traded to Detroit.

Detroit Tigers
In, Batts was backup to the Tigers' starting catcher, Joe Ginsberg, and only appeared in 56 games, batting .237 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI. On August 25, Batts caught the second of pitcher Virgil Trucks' two no-hitters that season.

The following June, Ginsberg was traded, and Batts took over as starting catcher; for the season he appeared in 116 games with a .278 average, 6 home runs, and 42 RBI. He fielded 514 total chances, the most of his career, and had a .986 fielding percentage. Early in the season he played in 12 games with the Tigers, batting 6-for-21 (.286), before being traded to the White Sox in late May.

Chicago White Sox
With the White Sox for the remainder of the season, Batts appeared in 55 games, and batted for a .228 average, with 3 home runs and 19 RBI.

Return to the minors
In December 1954, the White Sox traded Batts to the Baltimore Orioles, who in turn sold him to the Cleveland Indians in April 1955. He did not make a major league appearance with either team. He started the 1955 season with Cleveland's farm team, the Indianapolis Indians of the Class AAA American Association. He appeared in 51 games for Indianapolis, batting just .231 with 4 home runs and 18 RBI. In July, his contract was purchased by Cincinnati, when their backup catcher Hobie Landrith was injured.

Cincinnati Reds
Batts appeared in 26 games for the Reds during the season, batting .254 with no home runs and 13 RBI. During he only made 3 plate appearances with the Reds, going 0-for-2 with 1 walk. His last major league appearance was on May 8, when he grounded out as a pinch hitter. He spent most of the season with a Reds' farm team, the Nashville Volunteers of the Class AA Southern Association, hitting .258 in 98 games.

After the majors
Batts played a final season in the minor leagues; during 1957 he spent time with the Birmingham Barons and the San Antonio Missions, both at the Class AA level, appearing in a total of 89 games with a .243 average. Later, Batts and his wife Arlene moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after fans recruited him to coach baseball clinics and the sheriff recruited him to help with juvenile crime problems.

The Batts started a successful printing company, donating programs and tickets to baseball clinics as well as Louisiana State University baseball. He died at his home in Baton Rouge in 2013 at the age of 91.