Delbert Oakley "Del" (or "Butch") Bates Jr. (June 12, 1940 – September 24, 2009), 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 ...

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 ...

, who played in

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

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

, in . In 22 career games, he had 8 hits, in 60 at-bats. Bates batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Bates was born in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

, in 1940. After graduating from

Bothell High School Bothell High School is located in Bothell, Washington, United States, and is one of six high schools in the Northshore School District. Approximately 1,500 students in grades 9 through 12 attend the school, which is a member of the KingCo 4A athl ...

, he served four years in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, as a submariner, stationed in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. After being discharged, Bates was signed by the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

, as an amateur free agent, in 1963. After retiring from baseball, Bates was a longshoreman at the

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

. He was active in the International Longshore Union, Local 19, until retiring, in 2004. Bates died on September 24, 2009.

External links

Del Bates
at The Deadball Era
Del Bates
Seattle Times Obituary from '' Legacy.com'' 1940 births 2009 deaths Philadelphia Phillies players Eugene Emeralds players Richmond Braves players Major League Baseball catchers Sportspeople from Kirkland, Washington Baseball players from King County, Washington Arizona Instructional League Angels players Columbus Jets players 20th-century American sportsmen Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Rochester Red Wings players Tri-City Angels players Wichita Aeros players {{US-baseball-catcher-1940s-stub