Otis Benjamin Thornton (born June 30, 1945) is a retired

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

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), ...

. He played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, appearing in both ends of a doubleheader played at Montreal's

Jarry Park Stadium Jarry Park Stadium (french: Stade Parc Jarry ) is a tennis stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was formerly a baseball stadium, home to the Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals), from 1969 through 1976. The Expos were Major League Baseb ...

on July 6, 1973."Otis Thornton Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 26, 2011. He is one of the very few players to have played his entire ML career outside the United States.

Baseball career

Thornton was selected in the 68th round (817th overall) by the

in the 1965 June amateur baseball draft out of Westfield High School in Docena, Alabama. Thornton played one day of Major League Baseball. He played in both games of a doubleheader for the Astros against the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Parc Jarry Jarry Park (french: Parc Jarry) is an urban park in the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Jarry Park has total area of 36 hectares. It is considered by the City of Montreal as one of its large park ...

in Montreal, Canada on July 6, 1973. In the first game he was put in defensively as catcher in the bottom of the eighth inning for

Skip Jutze Alfred Henry "Skip" Jutze (born May 28, 1946) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as a catcher. Baseball career Jutze attended W. Tresper Clarke High School in Westb ...

. He then was pitch hit for by Rafael Batista in the ninth inning. In the second game, he came in again for

in the 4th inning as part of a double switch. He came to bat first in the top of the fifth inning striking out against Expos pitcher

Mike Torrez Michael Augustine Torrez (born August 28, 1946) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) starting pitcher. In an 18-season career, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals (1967–1971), Montreal Expos (1971–1974), Baltimore Orioles (19 ...

. His next at-bat was in the top of the 7th inning. He stuck out again against Mike Torrez for the last out of the inning. He came to bat for his last time in the 9th inning against Mike Marshall with the bases loaded and hit a ground-out to 2nd baseman Pepe Frias who through the ball to first for the out. Bob Gallagher who was on third base scored on the play. The Astros lost both games of the doubleheader. He finished his career 0-3 with 1 RBI and a .000 batting average.

References

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1945 births Living people African-American baseball players Major League Baseball catchers Houston Astros players Baseball players from Alabama Bismarck-Mandan Pards players Cocoa Astros players Columbus Astros players Denver Bears players Florida Instructional League Astros players Florida Rookie League Astros players Greensboro Patriots players Oklahoma City 89ers players Peninsula Astros players Raleigh-Durham Triangles players Salisbury Astros players Williamsport Astros players {{US-baseball-catcher-1940s-stub