Tom Patton

Tommy Allen Patton

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9½", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Honey Brook High School
• Debut April 30, 1957
• Final Game April 30, 1957
• Born September 5, 1935 in Honey Brook, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Tom Patton, a twenty-one-year-old catcher from Honey Brook, PA, had a chance to play in one major league game for the Baltimore Orioles on April 30, 1957. He did not get a hit in either of his at-bats in the game at Comiskey Park. Tom had originally been signed to an amateur free agent contract by the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1953 season.

The young catcher spent four seasons in the minors from 1953 to 1956, having two good seasons, one in 1954 with the Dothan Rebels of the class D Alabama-Florida League where he hit .305 in 113 games, and the second when he hit .276 in a split season with the class B Peoria Chiefs of the Three-I League and the class A Columbus Cardinals of the South Atlantic League.

Patton was then drafted by Baltimore from St. Louis on December 3, 1956 in the 1956 Rule V Draft. He got his very short look at the major leagues in April of 1957 and spent the rest of the year with the San Antonio Missions of the AA Texas League, where he hit .261 in 71 games. Tom spent 1958 with the Vancouver Mounties, not playing well, and had just three more seasons in baseball after that.

Released by the Baltimore franchise, Tom spent the 1959 year with the Amarillo Gold Sox of the Texas League, hitting .270 in 105 games. In 1960, he was with three different clubs, hitting .298 but appearing in only 35 games. 1961 was his last year in baseball and he finished out with the Williamsport Grays, catching 31 games and hitting .241. He had a total of nine seasons under his belt, appearing in 670 games with a .261 average and 33 home runs.

Patton returned home to his native Honey Brook, PA where, beginning in 1963, he had a much longer stay working for the Pepperidge Farm Bakery in nearby Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

See also: Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• Tom Patton at the SABR Bio Project