Buddy Napier

Skelton Le Roy Napier

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut August 14, 1912
• Final Game July 16, 1921
• Born December 18, 1889 in Byromville, GA USA
• Died March 29, 1968 in Dallas, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Skelton Le Roy "Buddy" Napier pitched four seasons in the big leagues, accumulating a total of 39 major league games. His best year was with the Cincinnati Reds in 1920, when he went 4-2 with an ERA of 1.29 in 9 games (5 of which were starts).

Buddy was born in Byromville, GA, around 100 miles south of Atlanta, GA. He won around 150 minor league games, with a peak in 1919 for Shreveport when he went 21-11. He was with Shreveport for all or part of each season from 1916 to 1920.

Napier came to the majors originally for a few games in 1912, with the St. Louis Browns. He was 22 at the time, and the previous year had gone 17-9 with Brownsville.

He didn't come back to the majors until 1918, when he pitched one game for the Chicago Cubs who went on to win the National League pennant. Napier spent most of 1918 with Shreveport.

He came back to the majors in 1920 and 1921, getting most of his major league appearances in 1921, when he was in 22 games for the Reds, a team which also featured pitchers Dolf Luque, Eppa Rixey and Rube Marquard. The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia seems to consider him a rookie for 1920, and lists him as pitching an 8-0 shutout on September 26th against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He also spent part of 1921 and all of 1922 with Atlanta. In 1923 he was with one of the great minor league teams, the 1923 St. Paul Saints who went 111-57.

Through 2009 no other major leaguer has had the last name Napier although Jack Littrell's middle name was Napier.

Related Sites

Find-A-Grave Memorial for Buddy Napier