Milt Graff

Milt Graff
Milt Graff
	Second baseman
	Born: December 30, 1930; Jefferson Center, Pennsylvania
	Died: August 2, 2005 (aged 74); Rockdale, Texas
	Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
	April 16, 1957, for the Kansas City Athletics
Last MLB appearance
	September 21, 1958, for the Kansas City Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average	.179
Home runs	0
RBI	10
	Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
	Kansas City Athletics (1957–58);

Milton Edward Graff (December 30, 1930 - August 2, 2005) was a Major League Baseball second baseman. He was born on Tuesday, December 30, 1930 in Jefferson Center, Pennsylvania. He was listed at a height of 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) and a weight of 158 pounds. Graff attended Butler Senior High School^[1] and then attended Pennsylvania State University and Lycoming College. At Lycoming, he got a degree in accounting. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Playing career

Around 1949, Graff was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent. Around eight years later, during which his baseball career was interrupted when he enlisted in the Army to fight in the Korean War, Graff made his major league debut on April 16, 1957 at the age of 26 with the Kansas City Athletics (he was sent to the Athletics from the New York Yankees, by whom he'd been drafted in 1955). He wore the number 4.

In 61 major league games, Graff batted .179 with 4 doubles, 3 triples and 0 home runs. He showed a good eye at the plate by walking 15 times and striking out only 10 times. In the field, Graff committed 3 errors for a .988 fielding percentage. He also was involved in 36 double plays.

Graff played his final game on September 21, 1958.

On February 19, 1957, the New York Yankees sent Graff, Rip Coleman, Billy Hunter, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan and Irv Noren to the Kansas City Athletics for Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Jack McMahan and Wayne Belardi.^[2]

Life after baseball

After baseball, Graff held several jobs in the field of accounting and was involved in baseball as scouting director and infield coach for the Pirates and director of stadium operations for Three Rivers Stadium. He was involved in the building of Three Rivers Stadium. He also was a scout for the Pirates, San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds. He also held multiple front office jobs.

In 1987, Lycoming honored Graff with a distinguished alumni award.

On August 2, 2005, Graff died in Rockdale, Texas of complications from Alzheimers. He chose to be cremated.

References

^ Meyer, Paul (August 25, 2005). "Obituary: Milton E. Graff / Former Pirates player, scout and front-office man | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
^ Yankees obtain Ditmar and Shantz in thirteen-player deal with Athletics

External links

Career statistics from Baseball Reference

[1] Meyer, Paul (August 25, 2005). "Obituary: Milton E. Graff / Former Pirates player, scout and front-office man | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.

[2] Yankees obtain Ditmar and Shantz in thirteen-player deal with Athletics

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