Dan Porter

Daniel Edward Porter

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 164 lb.

• Debut August 16, 1951
• Final Game September 30, 1951
• Born October 17, 1931 in Decatur, IL USA
• Died January 7, 2017 in Decatur, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Dan Porter was signed by the Washington Senators to an amateur free agent contract before the 1949 season. The 17-year-old outfielder was assigned to the class D Orlando Senators of the Florida State League his first year in pro baseball. Dan appeared in only 25 games in 1949 but came back in his second season with the the same club and hit for a .331 average with 192 base hits to help his team to the regular-season league championship.

Porter made it up to the American League, debuting on August 16, 1951, with the Senators, after hitting .312 for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the AA Southern Association in 140 games. The left-handed hitting outfielder, who hit .211 (4-for-19) in 13 games with the Senators, was then inducted into the United States military for two years (1952-1953) during the Korean War.

On returning from the military, Dan spent the remainder of his seven-year pro baseball career back in the minor leagues. He had a good year with Chattanooga again in 1954, hitting .292 in 138 games but fell to a .240 mark in a split season with Chattanooga and the Charlotte Hornets in 1955. Dan played well in his last two seasons, hitting .289 in 1956 and .290 in 1957, but failed to get a recall from the parent Washington Senators club. He finished out his pro baseball time in 1957 with a career .294 average and 19 home runs in 793 games.

The book Baseball in Chattanooga has a photo of him, and notes he was a rarity - a lefthanded hitter who did not choose to go for home runs in the direction of the close right-field wall. After baseball Porter was employed by the United States Postal Service in San Diego, CA and retired in his home town of Illiopolis, IL.

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• BR Minors page