George Lee Altman (born March 20, 1933) is an American former

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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who had a lengthy career in both

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), ...

and

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. A three-time

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

All-Star, he appeared in 991 games over nine full seasons in the major leagues. Then, at age 35, he began an eight-year tenure in Japanese baseball, where he would hit 205 home runs and

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

.309 with 985 hits. Altman batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he was listed as tall and . He was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and graduated from

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, an

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

in Nashville, where he played varsity baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Baseball career

In North America

Altman's first professional baseball experience came with the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 19 ...

of the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

; he played three months for the team in 1955. He then was signed by the Chicago Cubs, on the recommendation of the legendary

Buck O'Neil John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. (November 13, 1911 – October 6, 2006) was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout and became the first Afric ...

.Costello, Rory, ''George Altman,''

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Biography Project He made the Cubs' roster in after two years in the

minor leagues 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 No ...

and two in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He started 102 games in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

, including on Opening Day, when he went

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

for

three 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

against Don Drysdale in a 6–1 Chicago victory. Altman batted only .245 as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, and his playing time diminished slightly in , as he started at all three outfield positions, as well as at first base. But he improved his batting average to .266, and in he claimed the Cubs' starting right field job, batted .303 in 138 games, smashed 27 home runs, and led the National League in triples with 12. In his first All-Star at bat, during that season's first midsummer classic (MLB played two such games from 1959 through 1962) at

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 ...

on July 11, Altman hit a

pinch hit 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, Americ ...

home run off Mike Fornieles in the eighth inning; the National League ultimately prevailed in the wind-blown contest, 5–4. He followed his 1961 season with another strong showing in . Once again making the All-Star team, Altman set personal bests in games played (147), hits (170), batting average (.318) and stolen bases (19); he also slugged 22 homers. Altman was sixth in the league in stolen bases and fourth in on-base percentage. But the Cubs suffered through an embarrassing, ninth-place season, and in the 1962–1963 offseason, Altman became a major piece in a six-player trade with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

that brought

pitchers 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 a ...

Larry Jackson Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies from to . In , ...

and

Lindy McDaniel Lyndall Dale McDaniel (December 13, 1935 – November 14, 2020), known as Lindy McDaniel, was an American professional baseball pitcher who had a 21-year career in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1975. During his career, he witnessed approxim ...

to Chicago. He became the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

' starting right fielder and played a role in a pennant race that saw the Redbirds challenge the eventual world champion

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

into late September before a six-game losing streak doomed their chances. But Altman's production declined, as he was platooned and started only against right-handed pitching; his average fell 44 points to .274, and he hit only nine home runs. Again, he was traded in the off-season, sent to the last-place

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

for pitcher Roger Craig in November. Altman played four more years in the majors. Only in , his sole season with the Mets, did he play regularly. But he struggled offensively, hitting .230 in 124 games, again hitting only nine homers, and was traded back to the Cubs in January 1965.

In Japan

He was a spare outfielder in both and , and then, in , he spent part of the year at Triple-A, where at age 34 he played regularly and regained his batting stroke. It served him well the following season, when he began his career in Japanese baseball. He played from through for the

Lotte Orions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

and the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

, and enjoyed seasons of 39, 34 and 30 homers—and four more years with 20 or more blasts—and batted over .300 six times. Highlights from his NPB career included leading the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently cons ...

in hits (170), runs (84), and RBI (100) in 1968; and being named to the "

Best Nine Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

" Pacific League team in 1968, 1970, and 1971. He credited martial arts training for baseball success in Japan.

MLB totals

In his nine-year major league career with the Cubs, Cardinals and Mets, Altman batted .269; his 832 hits included 132 doubles, 34 triples, and 101 home runs. He had 403

RBIs 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 bat ...

in 991 games played. He recorded a .981 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions and first base. In three All-Star Game appearances, his 1961 homer was his only hit in three at bats; he played errorless ball in the field over three innings as the National League's right fielder in 1961's second midsummer classic, played July 31 at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

. Altman currently resides in

O'Fallon, Missouri O'Fallon ( ) is a city located along Interstates 64 and 70 between Lake St. Louis and St. Peters in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, O'Fallon had ...

References

External links