Duane Charles Josephson (June 3, 1942 – January 30, 1997) was an American

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 ca ...

who played 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), ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in parts of eight seasons spanning 1965–1972. Listed at 6' 0", 190 lb., he batted and threw right-handed. Josephson was born in

New Hampton, Iowa New Hampton is a city in, and the county seat of, Chickasaw County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,494 at the time of the 2020 census. History New Hampton was founded ''circa'' 1855. It is named after New Hampton, New Hampshire, the ...

, where he attended

New Hampton High School New Hampton High School is located in New Hampton, Iowa and is part of the New Hampton Community School District. The school's mascot is the Chickasaw. The school is located on Main Street on the west edge of New Hampton. Athletics New Hamp ...

. Josephson then attended

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and gr ...

. His most productive season came in 1968, when he posted career-highs in hits (107), doubles (16), triples (six), RBI (45), games (128), and was selected to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

. In an eight-season career, Josephson posted a .258

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 ...

with 23

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 i ...

s and 164 RBI in 470 games played. In between, Josephson appeared in four Minor League seasons from 1964–1967, and also played winter ball with the

Navegantes del Magallanes The Navegantes del Magallanes ( Magellan Navigators), commonly known as Magallanes, are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in Valencia, Magallanes has won 13 LVBP championships and two (2) Caribbean Series. It w ...

club of the

Venezuelan League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

during the 1966-67 tournament. Additionally, he earned the Pacific Coast League MVP Award in 1966, after hitting a

slash line S sabermetrics :Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. The term is derived from the SABR – the Society for American Baseball Research. The term was coined by Bill James, an ...

of .324/.369/.446 with 237

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...

and 77 RBI in 146 games for the Indianapolis Indians. Josephson was forced to retire from baseball at the age of 30 due to pericarditis.Nowlin, Bill

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Biography project He died in 1997 in his hometown of New Hampton, Iowa, at the age of 54.

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