John Alvin Bateman (July 21, 1940 – December 3, 1996) 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 Houston Colt .45s / Astros,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. Bateman batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. During his playing days, he stood tall, weighing . Born in

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...

, Bateman grew up in

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, Oklahoma, Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in western Oklahoma, approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton metropolitan ar ...

and attended Lawton High School. He signed with the expansion Houston Colt .45s, as an amateur free agent, in . In 10 MLB seasons, Bateman compiled a .230 lifetime batting average; he ended his big league career with the Phillies.

Houston Colt .45s

Bateman clubbed 22

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 for the minor league Modesto Colts in 1962, and made the Colt .45s out of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

the following season as Jim Campbell's back-up behind the plate. Campbell, however, sputtered, and soon lost his starting job to Bateman. On May 17, , Bateman caught the first no-hitter in Houston franchise history. Don Nottebart held the

hitless in a 4–1 Houston win. For the season, Bateman batted .210 while leading his team with ten home runs and 59

runs 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 ...

. He then split time behind the plate with

Jerry Grote Gerald Wayne Grote (October 6, 1942 – April 7, 2024) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1963 through 1981 for the Houston Colt .45s, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kansas City Roya ...

in .

Houston Astros

In , the Colt .45s rebranded as the Astros. During that first season in the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It seated around 50,000 fans, with a record atte ...

, Bateman struggled, ultimately spending almost half the season with the AAA Oklahoma City 89ers. While in the big leagues, he managed only a .197 batting average, with seven home runs — and spending only 39 games behind the dish — while backing up starting catcher Ron Brand. In , Bateman won back his starting job behind the plate, and set a franchise record with sixteen home runs by a catcher; the record was tied by Jason Castro in , who hit two more as a designated hitter.

Montreal Expos

Bateman and Brand shared catching duties for the Astros through the season. On October 14, 1968, Bateman was drafted by the

as the sixth overall pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft; 52 picks later, the Expos selected Brand, and the two resumed their platoon in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Bateman batted sixth in the inaugural game versus the New York Mets on April 8, 1969, going 1-for-5 in the 11-10 win. As he had with Houston, Bateman also caught the Expos' first no-hitter: the first of Bill Stoneman's two, on April 17, 1969 against the

, in only the ninth game in the franchise's history. In 1970 for Montreal, Bateman was second on the team in hits and triples, third on the team in home runs, runs batted in, doubles, extra-base hits, and stolen bases. That season Bateman also led all MLB catchers in stolen bases with eight, and finished 25th in the National League in power/speed. Bateman was a member of the Expos in October , during the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

gripping Canada. Bateman was friendly with the Montreal police, and on November 6, the hiding place of one of the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...

(FLQ) terrorist cells was discovered. Expos manager Gene Mauch was watching coverage of the events with his staff, and was not amused to see Bateman's bulky frame coming out of the hiding place on national television.

Philadelphia Phillies

On June 14, , Bateman was traded to the

for

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (October 16, 1941 – February 16, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher, television sports commentator, and singer. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1959 to 1980 for four teams, spending almost ...

. He was released at the end of the season to make room for rookie prospect

Bob Boone Robert Raymond Boone (born November 19, 1947) is an American former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who was a four-time All-Star. Born in San Diego, California, he is the son of MLB player Ray Boone, and he is the father of ...

behind the plate.

Steve Carlton Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher for six different teams from 1965 to 1988, most notably as a member of the Philadelph ...

was 7-6 with a 2.86 ERA before Bateman was traded to the Phillies. With Bateman catching the rest of Carlton's starts that season, Carlton was 20-4 with a 1.60 ERA. Carlton called Bateman the best signal caller he ever played with, and unsuccessfully lobbied the Phillies' front office to re-sign Bateman in 1973.

The King and His Court

Bateman toured with the Fast Pitch softball team The King and His Court from 1977 to 1980. He acquired his softball skills while playing for the Texas State Amateur Softball Champion Houston Bombers.

References

External links

John Bateman
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
John Bateman
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, John 1940 births 1996 deaths Baseball players from Bell County, Texas Sportspeople from Killeen, Texas American expatriate baseball players in Canada Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Houston Astros players Houston Colt .45s players Major League Baseball catchers Montreal Expos players Modesto Colts players Oklahoma City 89ers players Philadelphia Phillies players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tigres de Aragua players Winnipeg Whips players 20th-century American sportsmen