*** Welcome to piglix ***

Leon Culberson

Leon Culberson
Outfielder
Born: (1919-08-06)August 6, 1919
Halls, Georgia
Died: September 17, 1989(1989-09-17) (aged 70)
Rome, Georgia
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 16, 1943, for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
May 12, 1948, for the Washington Senators
MLB statistics
Batting average .266
Home runs 14
RBI 131
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Delbert Leon Culberson (August 6, 1919 – September 17, 1989) was a professional baseball player who was an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1948. He played for the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators.

Culberson’s first year in professional baseball was 1940, when he played for the Kannapolis Towelers of the Class D North Carolina State League. He hit .307 with 14 home runs in 68 games, and was spotted by a Red Sox scout and acquired. In 1941 he played for the Scranton Red Sox of the Class A Eastern League, and hit .232 in 76 games. During the season he had an emergency appendectomy, which led to six weeks in the hospital. In 1942 he again played for Scranton and raised his average to .286 while playing 120 games. In 1943 he moved up to the Louisville Colonels in Class AA. He struggled in his first 10 games, hitting just 7-for-41 (.171) but was called up to the major league club when they sent down another outfielder.

During the 1943 season, Culberson played in 81 games for Boston, hitting .272 and stealing 14 bases; third best on the team in each of those categories. On July 3 he hit for the cycle against the Cleveland Indians. Batting lead off, he hit a single in the 1st inning, a double in the 3rd inning, a triple in the 6th inning, and a home run (inside-the-park) in the 8th inning. By collecting the hits in that order it was a rare "natural" cycle, the fifth in MLB history. In 1944 his average fell to .238 playing in 75 games, then in 1945 he raised his average to .275 while appearing in 97 games. He played through the war years due to a trick knee condition that rendered him unfit for military duty, and also sidelined him at times.


...
Wikipedia

...