Pat Veltman

Arthur Patrick Veltman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut April 17, 1926
• Final Game September 30, 1934
• Born March 24, 1906 in Mobile, AL USA
• Died October 1, 1980 in San Antonio, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Pat Veltman had six seasons in the majors and ten in the minors. While his major league batting average was only .132 (in a total of 42 plate appearances), he did much better in the minors, hitting .312. His six major league seasons gave him a total of only 23 games, of which the majority were in his last season, with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934.

While he did a lot of pinch hitting, sometimes he was in the field. In his first major league year, he played shortstop. In his second he played centerfield. In his third and sixth seasons he was at catcher. In his fourth and fifth seasons he was not in the field, doing only pinch running and pinch hitting.

Pat loved baseball. He was the bat boy for the New York Giants during their 1920 spring training. Originally intending to be an outfielder, he found himself in competition with Mel Ott, so John McGraw advised him to switch to catcher. Although arthritis started taking over his hands at the age of thirty, Veltman was player-manager for the Ponca City Angels in 1937, which finished 5th in the Western Association with a record of 71-69.

When his playing days were completely behind him, he started the Veltman Kids Baseball Team in San Antonio, TX. He also managed or coached the San Antonio team in the South Texas All-Star Amateur Baseball Game until his death in 1980.