Marv Eugene Breeding (March 8, 1934 – December 31, 2006) 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 ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

who played four seasons 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

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 ...

, 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

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, and played for the baseball team at

Samford University Samford University is a Private university, private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded by Baptist Church, Baptists in 1841 as Howard College and located until 1887 in Marion, Alabama. It is governed by an in ...

. 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

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 is ...

(.267),

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 (3), runs (69), RBI (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 base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s (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. Associat ...

(152), including seven three-hits games. His 117 singles ranked him ninth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. 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'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

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 (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 as a shortstop from 1959 to 1972, most prominently as an integral member of the Los Ange ...

(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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

during the 1963 World Series. 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 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Breeding, Marv 1934 births 2006 deaths American men's basketball players Baltimore Orioles players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Decatur, 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 Phoenix Giants players Richmond Braves players Rochester Red Wings players Samford Bulldogs baseball players Samford Bulldogs men's basketball players Samford Bulldogs football players 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 20th-century American sportsmen