Walter Charles Linden (March 27, 1924 – September 20, 2013) 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 ...

player. Although the

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's pro career lasted for eight seasons (1946–51; 1953–54), he appeared in only three

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at the Major League level for the

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. In six

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s, he collected two

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and a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

.Career statistics and history
a
Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Linden graduated from high school in Berwyn and attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

. He served in the

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during World War II and broke into baseball in the Braves'

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in 1946. In 1949, Linden batted .325 in 121 games and was named to the Western League all-star team. He then made the Braves' 1950 roster coming out of

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and doubled in his first MLB

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, ...

in a

pinch hitting In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

role against eventual

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r Robin Roberts on April 30. Linden was Boston's starting catcher on May 8, and had a

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in three at bats against

Gerry Staley Gerald Lee Staley (August 21, 1920 – January 2, 2008) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1942 Minor League draft. He pitched regularly from 1947 on, then was traded t ...

of the

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in a 10–3 defeat.1950-5-8 box score
from

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He was then sent to the Triple-A

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

at the May cutdown, and spent the remainder of his baseball career in the minors.

References

External links

1924 births 2013 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Chicago Boston Braves players Denver Bears players Eau Claire Bears players Evansville Braves players Hartford Chiefs players Jackson Senators players Jacksonville Braves players Lincoln Chiefs players Major League Baseball catchers Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players People from La Grange Park, Illinois United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-catcher-1920s-stub