Leroy Bobby Stanton (April 10, 1946 – March 13, 2019) 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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played all or part of nine seasons in the majors, from to . He played for the

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

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

, and the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. He also played one season in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

in . He died in a car crash on March 13, 2019.

Professional career

New York Mets

Stanton played two seasons with the Mets. In limited playing time he had five

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 25

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s with two

RBIs 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 ...

, one

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

and one

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 ...

. On December 10, , Stanton was traded by the Mets with

Francisco Estrada Francisco "Paquín" Estrada Soto (February 12, 1948 – December 9, 2019) was a Mexican Major League Baseball player for the New York Mets. Estrada, a catcher, appeared in one game for the Mets in 1971. Estrada was at the time of his death the ...

Don Rose Don Rose (born Donald Duane Rosenberg; July 5, 1934 – March 30, 2005), also known as "Dr. Donald D. Rose" or just "Dr. Don," was an American radio personality on KFRC AM 610 in San Francisco, California from October 1973 to 1986. Prior to join ...

, and

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New Yo ...

to the

for

Jim Fregosi James Louis "Jim" Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played ...

, considered to be one of the worst trades the Mets have ever made.

California Angels

Stanton hit three home runs in a July 10, , game against 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 ...

to tie an Angels record. He led California with 14 home runs and 82 RBIs in . Halos Heaven, a

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, ...

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

, ranked Stanton as the 68th best Angel in franchise history saying; "Stanton saw a lot of action as an Angel, never truly excelling into greatness, never swooning into uselessness. That is why he and his 594 games under the Halo stand at number 68."The 100 Greatest Angels - #68, Leroy Stanton
''halosheaven.com'' In five seasons with the Angels Stanton played 594 games with 443 hits, 47 home runs and 242 RBIs. He lost his starting job in right field to

Bobby Bonds Bobby Lee Bonds Sr. (March 15, 1946 – August 23, 2003) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball from to . He played for the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers (baseball), ...

at the start of the 1976 season after Bonds was acquired from the New York Yankees for

Mickey Rivers John Milton "Mickey" Rivers (born October 30, 1948) is an American former baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1984 for the California Angels, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. As a Yankee, he was part of two Worl ...

Seattle Mariners

Stanton was selected by the Mariners in the

1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1976 MLB Expansion Draft was held November 5, 1976. This expansion draft was conducted by Major League Baseball to stock the major league rosters of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, new major league expansion franchises establ ...

. In , Stanton hit a career-high 27 home runs for the Mariners. In two seasons with the M's, Stanton played 226 games, acquiring 180 hits, 30 home runs and 114 RBIs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Leroy 1946 births 2019 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Angeles de Puebla players Baseball players from South Carolina California Angels players Florida Instructional League Mets players Greenville Mets players Hanshin Tigers players Major League Baseball right fielders Marion Mets players Memphis Blues players New York Mets players People from Latta, South Carolina Raleigh-Durham Mets players Road incident deaths in South Carolina Seattle Mariners players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tidewater Tides players Tigres de Aragua players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen