William Baker "Babe" Borton (August 14, 1888 – July 29, 1954) was a

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), ...

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 ...

. Borton played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, St. Louis Terriers, and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

from 1912 to 1916. He stood .

Biography

Borton was born in

Marion, Illinois Marion is a city in Williamson and Johnson Counties, Illinois, United States, and is the county seat of Williamson County. The population was 16,855 at the 2020 census. It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of the early 20th ...

in 1888. He started his professional baseball career in 1910, at the age of 21. In 1912, he was hitting .369 in the Western League"Babe Borton Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-04. when he was acquired by the

late in the season. He played one season for them before being traded with

Rollie Zeider Rollie Hubert Zeider (November 16, 1883 – September 12, 1967) was a professional baseball player. An infielder (playing over 100 games at all four infield positions in his career), he played nine seasons in the major leagues for the Chi ...

to the

for Hal Chase. He hit just .130 in 33 games for New York and was released. In 1914, he played in the Pacific Coast League. 1915 was Borton's only full major league campaign. With the St. Louis Terriers, he led the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

in walks (92) and runs scored (97) and was fourth in on-base percentage (.395). After the season, the Federal League folded, and Borton was purchased by the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

's Browns. He hit just .224 in 1916 and never played in the majors again. From 1917 to 1920, he played in the Pacific Coast League. He batted .303 in 1919, as his team – the

Vernon Tigers The Vernon Tigers were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Vernon, California in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the Sacramento Solons ...

– won the pennant. In 1920, he was batting .326 late in the season when he was suspended. In July 1920, Borton had tried to bribe an opposing

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 ...

into throwing a game. As details in the scandal emerged, it was discovered that he and some Vernon teammates had also bribed opponents in 1919 to

throw Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensil ...

the pennant to the Tigers. Borton was eventually cleared of any criminal charges in December, but along with Harl Maggert, Gene Dale, and Bill Rumler, Borton was expelled from the Pacific Coast League. Borton never played in organized baseball after 1920. He later worked for Standard Oil until his death in 1954."Babe Borton Death Certificate"
. ''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-04.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borton, Babe 1888 births 1954 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Chicago White Sox players New York Yankees players St. Louis Terriers players St. Louis Browns players Ottumwa Packers players St. Joseph Drummers players Venice Tigers players Portland Beavers players Vernon Tigers players Baseball players from Illinois People from Marion, Illinois

Biography

See also

References

External links