Clint Courtney

Clinton Dawson Courtney (March 16, 1927 – June 16, 1975), nicknamed "Scrap Iron", was an American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1951), St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles (1952–1954, 1960, 1961), Chicago White Sox (1955), Washington Senators (1955–1959) and Kansas City Athletics (1961).

He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Courtney was born in Louisiana, growing up there and in Arkansas.

After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he was signed as a catcher by the New York Yankees.

Playing minor league baseball for them for the next few seasons, he was involved in several fights.

Clinton Dawson Courtney was born on March 16, 1927, in Hall Summit, a village in tiny Red River Parish, Louisiana.

His parents, C.D. and Ethel Murray Courtney, divorced when Clint was about three or four.

Courtney had a sister named Fleta, as well as two stepsisters, Cecil and Jo, from his father's remarriage to Gladys Woods.

The Courtneys did not have much money.

In 1944, Courtney was drafted by the United States Army to serve in World War II.

He served initially at Fort Robinson and Fort Chaffee, playing with the latter's baseball team at the 1945 National Baseball Congress.

After that, he served as part of the occupation forces in Korea, the Philippines, and Japan.

Courtney continued to play baseball with service teams.

Originally an outfielder, he started playing catcher during his army years.

To better accomplish the position change, the left-handed Courtney taught himself to throw right-handed, which would make it easier to make a play to first base.

Courtney still batted left-handed.

He was discharged from the Army in 1947.

Soon after his 1947 discharge, Courtney was signed to play for the New York Yankees by scout Atley Donald, another Louisiana native.

He began his career with the Beaumont Exporters of the Class AA Texas League, playing four games before being assigned to the Bisbee Yanks of the Class C Arizona-Texas League.

In a game against the Phoenix Senators, Courtney slid hard into second base, spiking and breaking player-manager Arky Biggs's hand.

This started a small fight between the teams.

After one game with the Yankees in 1951, he was traded to the Browns in 1952 at the urging of Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis's manager.

Courtney won The Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year, batting .286.

Both that season and the next, he was involved in on-the-field fights with Billy Martin, whom he had battled in the minor leagues several seasons before.

Courtney remained the starting catcher for the Browns when they moved to Baltimore in 1954 and became the Orioles.

Then, he was traded to the White Sox.

Used as the backup to Sherm Lollar by Chicago, Courtney only lasted half a season with the White Sox before he was traded to the Senators.

He finished out the 1955 season with Washington and spent the next four years there, appearing in a career-high 134 games for the ballclub in 1958.

"I was so poor as a boy, my shoes were so bad that I could step on a dime and tell you if it was heads or tails," Courtney recalled in 1958.

The Courtneys lived in Louisiana until Clint had completed the eighth grade, at which point they moved to Arkansas so C.D. could get a job in the oilfields.

Clint attended Standard-Ulmstead High School in Smackover, where he garnered All-State recognition playing for the basketball team.

He had also played baseball since his days in Halls Summit.

After graduating, he joined his father working in the Smackover oilfields.

He then moved to Orange, Texas, where he worked as a shipyard welder.

Injuries afflicted him in 1959, and he was traded back to Baltimore for the 1960 season, where he became the first catcher to wear an oversized mitt while catching knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.

Traded to Kansas City for 1961, he was returned to Baltimore after playing one game for the Athletics.

Accepting an assignment to the minor leagues halfway through the 1961 season, he played minor league ball for the next few seasons, following Oriole manager Paul Richards into the Houston Colt .45's organization.

Once his playing career ended, Courtney managed in the minor leagues, first in Houston's organization, and then for affiliates of the Atlanta Braves.

He hoped to be a major league manager one day and came close to being named Atlanta's manager in 1974, though the team settled on Clyde King instead.

However, while serving as the manager of the Richmond Braves in 1975, Courtney died of a heart attack while on a road trip with the team.