Daniel Gene Walters (August 15, 1966 – April 23, 2020) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

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) for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

in the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

seasons.

Career

Born in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Brunswick is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part o ...

, Walters attended

Santana High School Santana High School is a public high school in Santee, California. It is part of Grossmont Union High School District. History 2001 Shooting On March 5, 2001, at Santana High School, 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams shot and killed two st ...

Santee, California Santee is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 60,037 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the East County region. The city is bisected by the San Diego River, a linear greenbelt that includes parks, trails ...

. In 84 career games, he had 64 hits in 273 at-bats, with a .234 batting average. After his playing days were over, Walters remained in San Diego and became a police officer with the

San Diego Police Department The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of San Diego, California. Established on May 16, 1889, the department employs 1,731 officers and 601 civilian staff. It covers 343 square miles of service area with ...

. He became paralyzed from the neck down after he was shot in the neck and hit by a car in 2003. Later he regained some movement in his left hand. Walters died due to complications from his injuries on April 23, 2020. He was 53.

References

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1966 births 2020 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada American municipal police officers Asheville Tourists players Auburn Astros players Baseball players from Cumberland County, Maine Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Columbus Astros players Deaths by firearm in California Edmonton Trappers players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Law enforcement officials from California Major League Baseball catchers Osceola Astros players Sportspeople from Brunswick, Maine People murdered in California People with tetraplegia San Diego Padres players Baseball players from San Diego Tucson Toros players Wichita Wranglers players People with paraplegia 20th-century American sportsmen 2020 murders in the United States {{US-baseball-catcher-1960s-stub