Willie Arthur Royster (April 11, 1954 – November 23, 2015) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. The

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

spent eleven seasons in minor league baseball, with a brief, four-game Major League trial for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. He threw and batted

right-handed 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 ...

, stood tall and weighed . Royster was chosen by the Orioles in the 22nd round of the

1972 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The Montreal Expos had perhaps their best draft in franc ...

. He played in the minors from 1972 to 1976 and 1978–1981 — missing the entire 1977 season — until a breakout season with the 1981

Charlotte O's The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

of the Double-A Southern League saw him hit 31 home runs and drive in 88

runs 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 ba ...

, both career highs. Baltimore recalled him after the September 1 roster expansion. In Royster's four MLB games played, he appeared as a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch hitter. In his four big-league

at bats 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 ...

, he

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

twice and grounded out twice. He returned to the minors in 1982, and his pro career ended after the 1983 season. He played all but 66 of his 961 minor-league games in the Orioles' organization. Willie died at his home in the Ocean View section of

Dennis Township, New Jersey Dennis Township is a township in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The township's population as of the 2020 United States census was 6,285, a drop of 182 from the 2010 Cens ...

on November 23, 2015 at the age of 61.Willie Royster-obituary
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References

External links

, o
Pura Pelota (VPBL stats)

1954 births 2015 deaths African-American baseball players Asheville Orioles players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Virginia Bluefield Orioles players Charlotte O's players Evansville Triplets players Howard University alumni Lodi Orioles players Major League Baseball catchers Miami Orioles players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Niagara Falls Pirates players People from Dennis Township, New Jersey Rochester Red Wings players Tigres de Aragua players People from Clarksville, Virginia 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people {{US-baseball-catcher-1950s-stub