Walter Charles Linden (March 27, 1924 – September 20, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. Although the catcher's pro career lasted for eight seasons (1946–51; 1953–54), he appeared in only three

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

at the Major League level for the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

. In six

plate appearance In baseball statistics, 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 ...

s, he collected two

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and a

base 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 ...

.Career statistics and history
a
Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in Chicago, Linden graduated from high school in Berwyn and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He served in the United States Army during World War II and broke into baseball in the Braves'

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 ...

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

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

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 during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

in a

pinch hitting In baseball, a pinch hitter 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, American ...

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 of the St. Louis Cardinals in a 10–3 defeat.1950-5-8 box score
from Retrosheet He was then sent to the Triple-A

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

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

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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 {{US-baseball-catcher-1920s-stub