Peter Alphonsus Naton (September 9, 1931 – December 10, 2013) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

who appeared in six Major League games for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in . He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Naton played in the third annual Hearst Sandlot Classic in 1949 and in the

1952 College World Series The College World Series was the sixth NCAA-sanctioned baseball tournament that determined a national champion. The tournament was held as the conclusion of the 1952 NCAA baseball season and was played at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebr ...

for the victorious

Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross. They primarily compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League. In ice hockey, a sport not sponsored by the Patriot League for either sex, th ...

. On June 12, 1953, shortly after graduating from Holy Cross, Naton signed with the Pirates. Four days later, he made his MLB debut as the starting catcher in the second game of a doubleheader against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

. Naton was hitless in three at bats against Chicago

left-hander In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Howie Pollet Howard Joseph Pollet (June 26, 1921 – August 8, 1974) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. A three-time All-Star in 1943, 1946 and 1949, he twice led the National League in earned run averag ...

. Naton appeared as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

three days later, going hitless, and then spent the middle of the season 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 Nor ...

before his recall to Pittsburgh in September. On September 13, Naton collected his first Major League hit, a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

off

Ken Raffensberger Kenneth David Raffensberger (August 8, 1917 – November 10, 2002) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1939 through 1954, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1939), Chicago Cubs (1940–41), Philadelphia P ...

of the Cincinnati Redlegs. He also drew two

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

and recorded his only MLB

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. All told, he came to bat 12 times for the Pirates, with two hits — both singles. After spending 1954 with the Class B Burlington-Graham Pirates, Naton was again added to Pittsburgh's

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

in September. This time, however, he saw no action, and on Friday, November 19, was optioned to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

to make room for Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh's selection in that year's Major League Draft. Naton spent the remainder of his career in the minors, almost exclusively in the Pittsburgh

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

; his lone break from the Pirates was a 10-game stint with the Dallas Eagles, an affiliate of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He retired after the 1958 campaign. He was inducted into the Holy Cross Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.Official website

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naton, Pete 1931 births 2013 deaths Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School alumni Burlington-Graham Pirates players Charleston Rebels players College of the Holy Cross alumni Dallas Eagles players Hollywood Stars players Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Major League Baseball catchers New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Pittsburgh Pirates players Salt Lake City Bees players Baseball players from Queens, New York Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players