Clint Courtney

Clinton Dawson Courtney (Scrap Iron or The Toy Bulldog)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut September 29, 1951
• Final Game June 24, 1961
• Born March 16, 1927 in Hall Summit, LA USA
• Died June 16, 1975 in Rochester, NY USA

BR page

[edit] Biographical Information

Clint Courtney played eleven seasons in the major leagues. Often the center of controversy, he was nicknamed "Scrap Iron" because of his tough, gritty approach. A furious competitor, he was often in fights. He frequently received fines. One of the original Orioles of 1954, he spent three tours of duty with the O's during his career.

Courtney started playing baseball as a youth in rural Louisiana (articles from his early career mistakenly say his start came while in the Army as a young man). He started professionally in the Arizona-Texas League and then moved to the Texas League where his manager was Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby recommended that the St. Louis Browns obtain him from the New York Yankees, for whom Clint played briefly in 1951.

He came very close to winning the 1952 American League Rookie of the Year Award for the Browns.

After his playing career ended, catcher Courtney was a Houston Astros coach in 1965. He was managing for Richmond in 1975 when he died suddenly, and the previous year he had been one of the top candidates to take over the reins of the Atlanta Braves, a job which went to Clyde King instead. He had managed three other farm teams for the Braves prior to Richmond: the Shreveport Braves in 1970; the Western Carolinas League champion Greenwood Braves in 1971; and the Savannah Braves in 1972 and the first part of 1973 before taking over the Richmond managerial duties.

He was most likely the first catcher in the majors to wear glasses behind the plate, something which is rare for a catcher.

[edit] Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

[edit] Related Sites

• SABR BioProject: detailed biography