Dave Melton

From BR Bullpen

David Olin Melton

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
School Stanford University
Debut April 17, 1956
Final Game June 11, 1958
Born October 3, 1928 in Pampa, TX USA
Died October 23, 2008 in Cupertino, CA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

An outfielder out of Stanford University Dave Melton started out in 1950 with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Dave hit a home run against the Hollywood Stars on the first pitch thrown to him in professional ball. Melton would appear in 38 games his first year hitting at a .339 clip. He was called up for Military Duty in 1951-52 during the Korean War and would arrive back in time for the 1953 season. Melton would spend this year with three different teams winding up with a .273 average in 120 games.

1954 would see Melton in another split year hitting .309 with 17 home runs for the San Francisco club and the Channel Cities Oilers of the California League. In 1955 he was strong again playing the entire season with the AAA Seals, hitting at a .299 clip with 19 home runs and 116 RBIs. These strong showings would get Dave purchased by the Kansas City Athletics from the San Francisco Seals on September 21, 1955.

Dave would get a couple of brief showings with the Athletics in 1956 and again in 1958 picking up one base hit in nine at-bats while appearing in twelve games. This was it for Melton in the big leagues. Dave would finish out his minor league career in 1962 with the Portland Beavers and his stat sheet shows that he hit for a .287 average with 65 home runs while appearing in 833 games.

After baseball Melton was a probation officer with the San Francisco Adult Probation Department, and resided in Cupertino, CA, where he died of prostate cancer on October 23, 2008, at 81 years of age.