Danny Breeden

Danny Richard Breeden

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 185 lb.
• School Troy State College
• High School Albany (GA) High School
• Debut July 24, 1969
• Final Game June 17, 1971
• Born June 27, 1942 in Albany, GA USA

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Biographical Information

Catcher Danny Breeden is the brother of first baseman Hal Breeden.

Even before making the Majors, Breeden had a long history of transactions: in December 1963, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the first-year draft. Just over a year later, he was purchased back from the Cubs by the St. Louis Cardinals. On December 3, 1968, he was traded with minor leaguer Phil Knuckles, Ron Davis and Ed Spiezio to the San Diego Padres for Dave Giusti, and on June 30, 1969, he was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds from the Padres. Less than a month after being purchased, he made his big league debut on July 24 (at 27) against Gary Gentry and the New York Mets. It was an intense 12-inning affair, with Breeden going 1-for-4 as the starting catcher. The Reds ended up beating the Mets 4-to-3 on a Tony Perez home run. His single would be his only big league hit that season; he played in only that series against the Mets, as starting catcher Johnny Bench was not available, and he would go 0-for-4 in his final two games of the season.

Breeden did not play in the majors in 1970, and on November 30 was traded to the Cubs for Willie Smith. In 1971, he played 25 games for the Cubs. That year was also his brother Hal's rookie season - with the Cubs no less - and they played on the field together in five games. Danny batted .154 in 65 at-bats, hitting no home runs and driving in four runs. He struck the only extra-base hit of his career in his very first game of the season, on May 1 against Rick Wise and the Philadelphia Phillies. His brother did even worse than him in 1971; Hal hit only .139 in 36 at-bats. 1971 was Danny's final season in the Majors - he played his last game on June 17. Although he did not appear again, he stuck around in the minors for quite a while. After moving to the Padres organization before the 1973 season in an unknown transaction, Danny was part of a huge three-team trade involving the Padres, Cardinals and Detroit Tigers that initially took place on November 18, 1974. The Padres sent a player to be named later (Breeden) to the Cardinals. The Padres then sent Nate Colbert to the Tigers. The Tigers sent Bob Strampe and Dick Sharon to the Padres. The Tigers sent Ed Brinkman to the Cardinals and the Cardinals sent Alan Foster, Rich Folkers, and Sonny Siebert to the San Diego Padres. Breeden was sent to the Cardinals on December 12 of that year.