Len Tran

Leonard Allen Tran

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of Washington
• Born February 23, 1925 in Seattle, WA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Len Tran was a familiar face in the Western International League, playing there from 1947 to 1950 and from 1952 to 1954. He also played briefly in the Pacific Coast League (1946 and 1952; 6 total games), including when it was the Open designation, but never reached the major leagues.

He batted .300 four times. He first reached the mark with the Vancouver Capilanos, hitting .305/.383/.429 with 7 home runs, 88 RBI, 96 runs and 18 stolen bases in 149 games in 1947. He led the league with 21 sacrifice hits. He slipped to .276/.365/.376 but still had 106 runs and 39 doubles for Vancouver in 1948. He hit .330/.439/.480 with 139 runs scored and 39 doubles with the same club in 1949, finishing third in the league in the latter two categories. He hit .304 for Vancover in 1950 and fell to .234 with the Oklahoma City Indians in 1951. After an uneventful 1952, he drew 137 walks (to 58 strikeouts) and scored 114 runs for the Tri-City Braves in 1953. He paced the league in walks (14 ahead of #2s Ken Richardson and Vic Buccola) and was third in runs scored. He wrapped up his career by hitting .335/.452/.427 with 4 home runs, 94 RBI, 90 runs scored, 15 steals, 94 walks and just 34 strikeouts in 135 games for Tri-City in 1954. He led the league in on-base percentage, tied Buccola and Robert Thomson for second in sacrifice hits with 20 (behind Dominic Cannuli's 24) and was fourth in walks behind major leaguers, Al Heist, Pumpsie Green and Lou Stringer.

Overall, he batted .296 with 1,215 hits in 4,104 at-bats and 1,123 games over 9 seasons.

His older brother, Ray Tran, spent 10 years in the minors and was his teammate from 1949 to 1950 and from 1952 to 1954.