William Havon Bruton (November 9, 1925 – December 5, 1995) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB)

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

who played for the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

(1953–1960) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1961–1964). Bruton batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Career

Bill Bruton, as a 27-year-old rookie, started his major league career in 1953 with the

. The team had just moved from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. Bruton had replaced former

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

's 1950 Rookie of the Year winner and first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

player on the Braves,

Sam Jethroe Samuel Jethroe (January 23, 1917 – June 16, 2001), nicknamed "the Jet", was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven se ...

, on the roster. Jethroe, at the age of 35, had been demoted to the minor leagues. He had led the NL in stolen bases his first two seasons. On April 14, 1953, his 10th-inning home run gave the Braves a 3–2 victory over the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

in Milwaukee's first major league game. Bruton played in Milwaukee for eight seasons; he was a member of the 1957 Braves and 1958 Braves, who both played in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. Bruton did not play in the

1957 World Series The 1957 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1957 season. The 54th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the American League (AL) champion and defending World Series champion ...

, which the Braves won in seven games, due to a knee injury sustained earlier in the season. In the

1958 World Series The 1958 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1958 season. The 55th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Nation ...

, which the Braves lost in seven games, Bruton hit a game-winning single in the tenth inning of Game 1. He played in all seven games of the Series, batting 7-for-17 (.412) with a home run and two RBIs. On August 2, 1959, Bruton hit two bases-loaded

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

s in one game. The feat had only been accomplished once before (

Elmer Valo Elmer William Valo (March 5, 1921 – July 19, 1998), born Imrich Valo, was a Slovak American professional baseball right fielder, coach, and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Playing in the maj ...

, 1949) and has only been accomplished once since (

Duane Kuiper Duane Eugene Kuiper (born June 19, 1950), nicknamed "Kuip", is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball player. As a player, he was a second baseman for the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (M ...

, 1978). In December 1960, Bruton was traded to the

, along with Dick Brown,

Chuck Cottier Charles Keith Cottier (January 8, 1936 – February 1, 2021) was an American second baseman, manager, coach, and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). Born in Delta, Colorado, Cottier graduated from Grand Junction High School, where he lette ...

and

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...

for a player to be named later and

Frank Bolling Francis Elmore Bolling (November 16, 1931July 11, 2020) was an American baseball second baseman who played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1954 un ...

. The Detroit Tigers sent Neil Chrisley (January 17, 1961) to the Milwaukee Braves to complete the trade. He spent four seasons with Detroit before retiring after the 1964 season. In his last game at Tiger Stadium, Bruton hit a drive off the facing of the third deck, near where the retired Tiger numbers were painted, that bounced back onto the field. The ball was still rising when it hit just below the base of the right field light tower.

Statistics

In his twelve-year major league career, Bruton posted an overall .273

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 94

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 545

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

in 1,610

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

. He finished his career with a .981

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. A line-drive hitter and a fleet-footed runner, Bruton led the

in stolen bases for three consecutive seasons (1953 through 1955), twice in

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

(1956 and 1960), and once in

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

(1960). He led off a game with a home run twelve times. Bruton's

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

milestones include; *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 Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

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 The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in 1952

Personal life

Bruton was a graduate of Parker High School in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and served in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

from 1944 through 1947. He was a spokesman for

Tareyton Tareyton is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. History Tareyton began as a variation of Herbert Tareyton cork-tipped non-filter cigarettes (whose slogan was, "There's ''somethi ...

cigarettes in the 1960s. In 1991, Bruton was inducted into the

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame was founded in 1976. Al Cartwright, who helped found it, was its first president and was inducted to its hall of fame in 1980. The current museum building was constructed in 1993. The Delaware Sports ...

. According to a

Delaware State Police The Delaware State Police (DSP) is a division of the Delaware Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security and is responsible for traffic regulation and law enforcement across the US State of Delaware, especially in areas underserved by loc ...

report, Bruton suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while driving his car in

Marshallton, Delaware Marshallton is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The community was founded in 1836 and is named for John Marshall, mill owner. History ...

, near his home in Wilmington on December 5, 1995. Bruton's car veered off the road and hit a pole; after which he was pronounced dead at a local hospital. He was 70.

References

*1955 Baseball Register, published by

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

External links

Bill Bruton
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)

at The Deadball Era * : {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruton, Bill 1925 births 1995 deaths African-American baseball players Baseball players from Alabama People from Sumter County, Alabama Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Denver Bears players Detroit Tigers players Detroit Tigers scouts Eau Claire Bears players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente outfielders Major League Baseball center fielders Milwaukee Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players National League stolen base champions Road incident deaths in Delaware United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American sportsmen

Career

Statistics

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links