James Allan Britton (born March 25, 1944) is a retired

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played from 1967 to 1971 with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. He was tall and weighed 225 pounds.

Career

Britton was born in

North Tonawanda, New York North Tonawanda is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. Its population was 31,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo, New York, Buffalo–Niagara Falls, New York, Niagara Falls Buffalo-Niagara Falls me ...

and attended

Tonawanda High School Tonawanda High School is a public high school located in the Tonawanda, New York, United States. It is part of the Tonawanda City School District. The school's football field was at one time the home of the Tonawanda Kardex, a professional foot ...

. In 1961, Britton refused a

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scholarship to

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and signed as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. On November 26, 1962, the Braves drafted him in the first-year draft. On September 20, 1967, at the age of 23, Britton made his Major League debut with the Braves. During this game he gave up a three-run

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 ( ...

Johnny Bench Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from to , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of the ...

, the first of Bench's career. Perhaps his best season in the Major Leagues was his second: in 34 games, he had an

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

of 3.10. On December 2, 1969, Britton was traded with Don Johnson, a minor leaguer, to the Montreal Expos for pitcher

Larry Jaster Larry Edward Jaster (born January 13, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher between 1965 and 1972 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos and the Atlant ...

. Expected to be a spot starter the following season, he missed that season due to arm trouble. On September 25, 1971, Britton played his final major league game. As a batter, Britton hit .127. The highlight of his hitting career would be the double he hit in 1969. Defensively, Britton committed two errors in his career for a .952

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 ...

. During his career, he wore three numbers: 27 in 1967, 42 in 1968 and 1969, and 27 in 1971. After his baseball career ended, Britton served as a special agent with the FBI.

Personal life

Britton's father suffered a fatal

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 watching Britton bat for the

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

during the ninth inning of 1967 game in

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. Braves manager

Lum Harris Chalmer Luman Harris (January 17, 1915 – November 11, 1996) was an American right-handed pitcher, coach, manager, and scout in Major League Baseball. Born in New Castle, Alabama, Harris began his playing career with the Atlanta Crackers of ...

told Britton only that his father had fainted and sent him out to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning.

References

External links

Baseball-Almanac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, Jim 1944 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Austin Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Niagara County, New York Bluefield Orioles players Boise Braves players Greenville Braves players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players Peninsula Whips players Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players Pennsylvania State University alumni People from North Tonawanda, New York Richmond Braves players University at Buffalo alumni University of Tennessee alumni Yakima Braves players