John Middleton

John Wayne Middleton
(Lefty)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• School Hardin-Simmons University
• Debut September 6, 1922
• Final Game September 21, 1922
• Born April 11, 1900 in Mount Calm, TX USA
• Died November 3, 1986 in Amarillo, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

John Middleton was a pitcher six years (1919-1924), four in college (1919-1922); three in the minors (1922-1924); and a cup of coffee in 1922. Middleton was born on Wednesday, April 11, 1900, in Mount Calm, TX. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I (BN). He attended Hardin-Simmons University (1919-1922), where he starred in baseball. Middleton was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 6, 1922, with the Cleveland Indians and pitched in two games for the Indians, starting one, and played his final MLB game on September 21, 1922 at age 22. Middleton's debut came in relief of George Uhle against the St. Louis Browns (he would allow a home run to Ken Williams). His start, on Sept. 21, was at home vs. the Boston Red Sox in a 15-5 loss.

He went to the minors with Decatur in the Three-I League (1923-1924) and Ardmore in the Western Association (1924), ending his baseball career at age 24. Middleton served in the U.S. Army in both World Wars I and II (BN). He taught 20 years in the Amarillo, TX school system and also owned and operated Middleton Café Supply Company. He died at age 86 in Amarillo on November 3, 1986 and is buried at Llano Cemetery in Amarillo.

Sources

Principal sources for John Middleton include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) and and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• John Middleton at the Baseball Almanac
• Bio at Baseball Page
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)