Bill Bruton
Template:Mlbretired William Haron Bruton (November 9, 1925 – December 5, 1995) was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Milwaukee Braves (1953-60) and Detroit Tigers (1961-64). Bruton batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Panola, Alabama.
In a 12-year career, Bruton posted a .273 batting average with 94 home runs and 545 RBI in 1610 games.
As a teammate of Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, Lew Burdette, Johnny Logan, Eddie Mathews, Red Schoendienst, Warren Spahn and Bobby Thomson, Bruton was the leadoff hitter, chief base stealer and rangy center fielder for the powerful Milwaukee Braves teams of the 1950s.
Bruton started his career when the Braves franchise moved to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953. He became an immediate hero when he hit a 10th-inning home run that gave the Braves a 3-2 victory over St. Louis in Milwaukee's first major league game. A line drive hitter and speedy runner, he led the National League in stolen bases for three consecutive seasons (1953-55), two times in triples (1956, 1960) and once in runs (1960). He also led off games with home runs twelve times.
In 1957, a knee injury cost Bruton half of the season and a chance to play in the World Series, which Milwaukee won. The next year, he came back in good form and was the leading hitter with a .412 average in the 1958 World Series, when the Braves lost in seven games with the Yankees.
Bruton hit three triples in a game during the 1959 season. Two of his triples were with the bases loaded –the one and only time it occurred in the National League in the 20th century. He played eight seasons with the Braves, then was traded to the Tigers where he spent 4 seasons as the speedy center fielder between Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito before calling it quits in 1964.
Bruton died in a car accident in Marshallton, Delaware, while driving near his home in Wilmington, at age of 70.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2007) |
- tied for the Northern League lead in games played (124), and led the league in at bats (545), runs (126), and batting average (.325) while playing for the Eau Claire Bears in 1950
- led the Western League with 27 triples while playing for the Denver Bears in 1951
- tied for the American Association lead in games played (154), at bats (650), runs (130), hits (211), and outfield assists (22) while playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1952
- was the first strikeout victim of Los Angeles Angels right-hander Bob Botz (Dodger Stadium -- May 8, 1962)
See also
- List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
- List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
- List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
References
- 1955 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News
External links
- Baseball Library - Profile and highlights
- Baseball Reference - Career statistics and analysis
- The Deadball Era
- Retrosheet