Walter Thomas McKeel (January 17, 1972 – January 1, 2019) 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 ...

player. He played parts of three seasons 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), ...

, between 1996 and 2002, for the

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 eight ...

(1996–1997) and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

(2002), primarily as a

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 ...

. Listed at , 200 lb., he batted and threw right-handed. In a three-season career, McKeel was a .250 hitter (4-for-16) and scored a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

in 16 games. In 10 catching appearances, he posted a perfect 1.000

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

in 26 chances. He also appeared in one game as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, fielding two chances there without an error.

Early life

McKeel also played in the Boston,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and Colorado

minor league 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 ...

systems from 1990 to 2002. In a 13-season career, he hit .256 with 81

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 390 RBI in 906 games. McKeel was one of many replacement players who appeared during

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 ...

in 1995 due to the Major League Baseball players strike. He died on January 1, 2019, aged 46 at his house in North Carolina.

References

http://www.wral.com/wilson-man-daughter-hospitalized-after-dwi-crash/14217412/

External links

1972 births 2019 deaths People from Wilson, North Carolina Major League Baseball catchers Boston Red Sox players Colorado Rockies players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Lynchburg Red Sox players Sarasota Red Sox players New Britain Red Sox players Trenton Thunder players Pawtucket Red Sox players Toledo Mud Hens players Sonoma County Crushers players Carolina Mudcats players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Baseball players from North Carolina {{US-baseball-catcher-1970s-stub

Early life

See also

References

External links