Bud Bates
From BR Bullpen
Hubert Edgar Bates
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.
- Debut September 16, 1939
- Final Game October 1, 1939
- Born March 16, 1912 in Los Angeles, CA USA
- Died April 29, 1987 in Long Beach, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
California native Bud Bates spent twenty-three active seasons in professional baseball from 1931 to 1961. Bates also spent three years (1943-1945) in the United States Navy during World War II. He spent until 1939 in the minors before getting his first and only chance in the major leagues. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on September 16, 1939. He appeared in 15 games for the 1939 Phillies, hitting at a .259 clip in 58 at-bats and played his final major league game on October 1 of that year.
Bates was an active player in 18 of his minor league years. He played in every classification from class C to AA (the highest classification at that point in his career) during this time. Bates managed to hit over the .300 mark in seven of these years. He had two good seasons at the class C level, when he hit .331 with 14 homers for the 1933 Shreveport Sports of the Dixie League and 14 years later, he bettered that mark when he hit .361 with 18 homers for the Burlington Bees of the Carolina League.
At the higher levels, he hit .308 with 7 homers for the Beaumont Exporters of the class A Texas League in 1935. Then, in 1939, he had a .321 mark with the Memphis Chickasaws of the class A1 Southern Association and followed that up in 1941 with a .324 average and 8 home runs with the Atlanta Crackers of the same league. Bates was a tough out and stayed strong with the bat until the end of his active playing days. His time in the outfield ended in 1955 at the age of 43 and he finished his minor league hitting with a .297 batting average and 103 home runs in 1,708 games.
Bates had been a player-manager from 1947 to 1952 and finished out his career totally as a minor league manager from 1955 to 1961. (See Managerial Record below).
After baseball, and before his retirement, Bates worked and lived in Long Beach, CA. Bud was the golf starter clerk at the Ironwood Nine for 22 years. He died from a heart attack at the Palmcrest Medallion Hospital in Long Beach, CA on April 29, 1987. He was 75 years of age.
