Jay Porter
| J. W. Porter | |||
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Porter with Cleveland in 1958
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| Catcher / Outfielder | |||
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Born: January 17, 1933 Shawnee, Oklahoma |
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| MLB debut | |||
| July 30, 1952, for the St. Louis Browns | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 27, 1959, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .228 | ||
| Home runs | 8 | ||
| Runs batted in | 62 | ||
| Teams | |||
J. W. "Jay" Porter (born January 17, 1933, in Shawnee, Oklahoma) is a former Major League Baseball player who played for the St. Louis Browns (1952), Detroit Tigers (1955–1957), Cleveland Indians (1958), Washington Senators (1959), and St. Louis Cardinals (1959). Porter played in 229 major league games, 91 as a catcher, 62 as an outfielder, 16 as a first baseman, and 3 at third base. He was a career .228 hitter who had his best season in 1957 when he hit .250 in 58 games for the Detroit Tigers.
Porter was signed as an 18-year-old "bonus baby" in 1951. Bobby Mattick was scouting Porter, when he noticed another prospect, Frank Robinson. Mattick wound up signing both Porter and Robinson, "with Porter signing for a much higher bonus." John Eisenberg, "From 33rd Street to Camden Yards" (McGraw-Hill 2001), p. 161. Despite the early promise, Porter played in only 33 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1952.
On December 4, 1952, Porter was traded by the Browns with Owen Friend and Bob Nieman to the Tigers for Virgil Trucks (who threw two no-hitters in 1952), Hal White, and Johnny Groth. Porter did not make it to the Tigers' big league team until 1955 and played only 92 games for the Tigers from 1955–1957.
Though he never became a starter in Detroit, he was selected by Sports Illustrated in October 2006 as one of the "10 Greatest Characters in Detroit Tigers History", along with Mark Fidrych, Norm Cash, Boots Poffenberger, and Herbie Redmond.
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