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Buddy Blattner

American athlete and broadcasterBaseball player

Robert Garnett "Buddy" Blattner (February 8, 1920 – September 4, 2009), was an American table tennis and professional baseball player. He played five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the New York Giants. After his retirement as a player, he became a radio and television sportscaster.

Contents

  • 1 Sports career
    • 1.1 Table tennis
    • 1.2 Baseball
    • 1.3 Broadcasting
  • 2 Personal life
  • 3 See also
  • 4 References
  • 5 Further reading
  • 6 External links

Sports career

Table tennis

Blattner played table tennis in his youth, winning the gold medal in the men's doubles with James McClure at the 1936 World Table Tennis Championships. The following year he won double gold at the 1937 World Table Tennis Championships in the men's team event and in the men's doubles with McClure.

Baseball

A graduate of Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Blattner started his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals, making his big league debut in the 1942 season. Following a stint in the U.S. Navy, Blattner played for the New York Giants (1946–48) and Philadelphia Phillies (1949); he played primarily as a second baseman.

Broadcasting

Blattner turned to broadcasting after his retirement as a player, teaming with Dizzy Dean on St. Louis Browns radio as well as nationally on the Liberty and Mutual networks, and on the televised baseball Game of the Week on ABC (1953–54) and CBS (1955–59). He also called games for the St. Louis Hawks of the National Basketball *ociation in the '50s.

Blattner was replaced on CBS by Pee Wee Reese following a dispute with Dean. Blattner continued to broadcast baseball for the Cardinals (1960–61), Los Angeles/California Angels (1962–68), and Kansas City Royals (1969–75) as well as on NBC's coverage of the 1964 and 1967 All-Star Games.

Personal life

In 1962, Blattner founded the "Buddy Fund", a charitable organization that supplies athletic equipment to disabled and underprivileged children in the St. Louis area. He was inducted into the U.S. Table Tennis *ociation Hall of Fame in 1979, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. On September 4, 2009, Blattner died at his home in Chesterfield, Missouri, from lung cancer, aged 89. In 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Blattner was a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

See also

  • List of World Table Tennis Championships medalists

References

    Further reading

    • Buddy Blattner at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
    • Noland, Claire. "Buddy Blattner dies at 89; former major leaguer and longtime sportscaster", Los Angeles Times, Saturday, September 5, 2009.

    External links

    • Career statistics and player information from MLB, or:ESPN, or:Baseball Reference, or:Fangraphs, or:Baseball Reference (Minors), or:Retrosheet
    • Buddy Blattner at Find a Grave
    Related
    articles
    • The Baseball Network
    • World Series television ratings
    • Television contracts
      • 1950s
      • 1960s
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
    • List of events on Wide World of Sports
    Commentators
    • The Baseball Network
    • Game of the Week
    • Prime time
    • All-Star Game
    • Wild Card Game
    • ALCS
    • ALDS
    • NLCS
    • NLDS
    • World Series
    Lore
    • Roger Maris' 61 home run season (1961)
    • "The Bird" (1976)
    • "The Double" (1995)
    • Sunday Night Baseball on ABC (2021)
    World Series
    • 1948
    • 1949
    • 1950
    • 1977
    • 1979
    • 1981
    • 1983
    • 1985
    • 1987
    • 1989
    • 1994
    • 1995 (Games 1, 4-5)
    AL Championship Series
    • 1976
    • 1978
    • 1980
    • 1982
    • 1984
    • 1986
    • 1988
    • 1995 (Games 1–2)
    NL Championship Series
    • 1976
    • 1978
    • 1980
    • 1982
    • 1984
    • 1986
    • 1988
    • 1995 (Games 1–2)
    AL Division Series
    • 1981
    • 1995
    NL Division Series
    • 1995
    AL Wild Card Game
    • 2020
    NL Wild Card Game
    • 2020
    All-Star Game
    • 1976
    • 1978
    • 1980
    • 1982
    • 1984
    • 1986
    • 1988
    • 1995
    Music
    • "Hello Old Friend"
    • "Lights"
    SeasonsCommentators
    • All-Star Game
    • ALCS
    • NLCS
    • World Series
    • Game of the Week
    • Prime time
    World Series
    • 1947 (Games 3-4)
    • 1948
    • 1949
    • 1950
    • 1990
    • 1991
    • 1992
    • 1993
    AL Championship
    • 1990
    • 1991
    • 1992
    • 1993
    NL Championship
    • 1990
    • 1991
    • 1992
    • 1993
    All-Star Game
    • 1949
    • 1990
    • 1991
    • 1992
    • 1993
    Lore
    • 1951 National League tie-breaker series (Game 1)
    • Nasty Boys (Cincinnati Reds) (1990)
    • "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" (1991)
    • "The Slide" (1992)
    • "Touch 'em all Joe!" (1993)
    SeasonsNBA Finals
    • 1963 (Game 6)
    • 1964
    All-Star Game
    • 1963
    • 1964
    • 1965
    • 1966
    • 1967