Walter Thomas Masters (March 28, 1907 – July 10, 1992) was an American

MLB 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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

halfback and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Masters went directly from college to the majors in 1931 but barely pitched in his first season with the Washington Senators. He went to the

Youngstown Buckeyes The Youngstown Buckeyes were a minor league baseball team in Youngstown, Ohio that played in the Central League in 1932. In 1929, Joe Cambria purchased the Hagerstown Hubs. In 1931, Hagerstown was playing in the Class C Middle Atlantic League, ...

the next year and went 11–14 for the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

team but his 3.12 ERA was second-best among pitchers with 10 or more decisions. He was 3–3 with a 5.49 ERA for the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium (Albany), Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of t ...

in 1933. After two years out of organized baseball (during which time he coached the

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

team

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

and played in the semipro St. Lawrence League) Masters was president, manager and business manager of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in the Can–Am League in 1936. He went 11–8 with a 4.40 ERA and played the outfield at times, hitting .270 with 4 homers and 40 RBI. Masters (a

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

All-American in college) played in the NFL that year as well, appearing for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

as a quarterback. Masters returned to the majors for limited duty in 1937 and 1939 (appearing in a total of 6 games) then went 8–10 in 1940 for the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

and Portland Beavers. Masters then returned to the NFL and played in 1942 for the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

as a punter-quarterback and in 1943 with the Card-Pitt. Overall, he did not excel in the NFL, averaging a loss of .6 yards per carry, completing under a third of his passes and throwing five times as many interceptions as touchdowns. After six years out of organized baseball, Masters pitched for the

Ottawa Nationals The Ottawa Nationals were a professional men's ice hockey team out of Ottawa that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) during the 1972–73 WHA season. The WHA had originally granted a franchise to Doug Michel for "Ontario." Original p ...

and went 11–4 with a 3.22 ERA and won both ends of a doubleheader. Masters finished his baseball career at the age of 40 in that 1947 campaign. After retirement, Masters did public relations work for a company in Ottawa, Ontario.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Walt 1907 births 1992 deaths American football halfbacks Card-Pitt players Chicago Cardinals players Penn Quakers baseball players Penn Quakers football players Philadelphia Athletics players Philadelphia Eagles players Philadelphia Phillies players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Wilmington Clippers coaches Federalsburg A's players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Albany Senators players Hagerstown Hubs players Harrisonburg Turks players Ottawa Nationals players Portland Beavers players Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players Youngstown Buckeyes players