Marv Eugene Breeding (May 8, 1934 – December 31, 2006) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

second baseman who played four seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles 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 American League's eight charter ...

, Washington Senators and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

between and ."Marv Breeding Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2017. He batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and . Breeding graduated from Decatur High School in his native city. He then played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the baseball team at

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United S ...

(then called Howard College). He also was a guard for the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

squad and place-kicker for the football team whose

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

then was

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest colle ...

. His slick fielding abilities and a quick bat prompted him to sign with the

in 1955. Breeding reached the major leagues in 1960 with the Orioles, spending three years with them before moving to the Washington Senators and

. His most productive season came in 1960 as the regular second baseman for Baltimore, when he posted career-highs in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

(.267),

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s (3), runs (69),

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

(43),

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 ...

(147), doubles (25), stolen bases (10) and

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Baseball ...

(152), including seven three-hits games. His 117

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

ranked him ninth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. Before the 1963 season Breeding was sent to the new Washington Senators in a five-players deal, playing at

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

and second bases. Then, in the midseason he was traded to the Dodgers. While in Los Angeles, Breeding served as a backup for injured

Jim Gilliam James William "Junior" Gilliam (October 17, 1928 – October 8, 1978) was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles ...

(2B) and

Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part of ...

(SS). He sat the bench as a member of the Dodgers in their four-game sweep over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

during the

1963 World Series The 1963 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1963 season. The 60th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the American League (AL) champion and two-time defending World Ser ...

. In a four-season majors career, Breeding was a .250 hitter with seven home runs and 92 RBI in 415 games. After 1963, he played in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

for five more seasons at the Triple-A level. Following his baseball retirement in 1968, Breeding worked as a manufacturer's representative and eventually started ''Marve Breeding Enterprises'', which included ''M&B Industries'' machine shop in Decatur. In February 2006, he was selected to the Samford Baseball Hall of Fame. Breeding died in his home at the age of 72.

References

External links

Marv Breeding
at Baseball Almanac
Marv Breeding
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breeding, Marv 1934 births 2006 deaths American men's basketball players Baltimore Orioles players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Alabama Columbus Foxes players Cordele Orioles players Denver Bears players Hawaii Islanders players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball second basemen Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Oklahoma City 89ers players Sportspeople from Decatur, Alabama Phoenix Giants players Richmond Braves players Rochester Red Wings players Samford Bulldogs baseball players Samford Bulldogs men's basketball players Samford Bulldogs football players Samford University alumni Spokane Indians players Tacoma Cubs players Vancouver Mounties players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players American expatriate baseball players in Colombia Jesuit High School (New Orleans) alumni