Danny Cater

Danny Anderson Cater (born February 25, 1940) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18, on June 8, 1958.[1] Cater played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Phillies (1964), Chicago White Sox (1965–1966), Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1966–1969), New York Yankees (1970–1971), Boston Red Sox (1972–1974), and St. Louis Cardinals (1975).[2]

Danny Cater
Cater in 1970
First baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1940-02-25) February 25, 1940 Austin, Texas, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 14, 1964, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
June 11, 1975, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.276
Home runs	66
Runs batted in	519
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (1964) Chicago White Sox (1965–1966) Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1966–1969) New York Yankees (1970–1971) Boston Red Sox (1972–1974) St. Louis Cardinals (1975)

Cater played twelve seasons in the big leagues, mostly as a regular. For the eight-year period from 1965 to 1972, he averaged over 500 plate appearances per season. Cater was a good hitter who was tough to strike out; however, he was slow afoot, making him more likely to ground into double plays, finishing in the top ten in the league in that category six times in those eight years, including second in both in 1968 and 1969.

Cater finished second for the American League batting title in 1968 with a batting average of .290.[2] That year is called "The Year of the Pitcher", and Carl Yastrzemski won the batting crown with a .301 batting average, the lowest mark ever to win a major league batting championship. Cater also led all American League first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage, that season.[2] In 1972, he was part of a well known trade between the Yankees and the Red Sox where he was traded for Sparky Lyle.

Cater‘s career highlights included:

• a pair of 5-hit games: five singles vs. the Cleveland Indians (August 30, 1967); and a double and four singles vs. the Boston Red Sox (June 21, 1970)
• eighteen 4-hit games, with the most impressive being two singles, a double, and a home run good for 4 runs batted in and 4 runs scored vs. the California Angels (August 12, 1973)

Cater's career totals include 1,289 games played, 1,229 hits, 66 home runs, 519 runs batted in, and a .276 batting average.[2]

After retiring from baseball, Cater worked at the headquarters office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in Austin, Texas. He now lives in Plano, Texas.