Walt Dixon, Date of Birth, Date of Death

    

Walt Dixon

American baseball player and coach

Date of Birth: 25-Nov-1920

Date of Death: 25-Sep-2003

Profession: baseball coach, baseball manager

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius


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About Walt Dixon

  • Walter Edward Dixon (November 25, 1920 – September 25, 2003) was an American pitcher, outfielder, first baseman, coach and manager in minor league baseball.
  • He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 ft 1 1/2 in (1.87 m) (187 cm) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
  • He was a native of Chatham County, North Carolina. Dixon attended the College of William and Mary before signing with the Boston Red Sox farm system in 1940 as a right-handed pitcher.
  • Despite losing three seasons (1943–45) to military service during World War II, Dixon progressed as far as the Scranton Red Sox of the Class A Eastern League before his release by the Red Sox at the end of the 1946 campaign.
  • When he returned to the game in 1947 he pitched for unaffiliated clubs in the mid-minors until he became predominantly an outfielder and first baseman in 1949.
  • That season — also his first as a manager — Dixon batted .368 for the Shelby Farmers of the Class D Western Carolina League.
  • His best minor league season, however, would come in 1953 when, as the manager and first baseman of the Norton Braves of the Class D Mountain States League, he led the loop in home runs (37) and hits (194), while batting .415 and driving home 162 RBI.
  • Incredibly, Dixon did not lead the MSL in RBI or batting, finishing behind Willie Kirkland (164 RBI) and Leo "Muscle" Shoals (.427). In 1956, Dixon began a 20-year-long tenure with the Chicago Cubs as a manager in their farm system.
  • Apart from three separate stints in the Double A Texas League, Dixon usually managed in the lower minor leagues.
  • Dixon also served as a member of the Cubs' College of Coaches in 1964 and 1965 (concurrently, he managed the Class A St.
  • Cloud Rox and Quincy Cubs, respectively) and scouted for the club.
  • During the 1980s, Dixon also served as an area scout for the New York Yankees based in Florence, South Carolina. He compiled a 27-year managing record of 1,484 wins and 1,521 defeats (.484).
  • As a minor league hitter, however, Dixon's numbers were far more formidable: a career batting average of .324 in 1,237 games, with 1,273 hits and 208 home runs, even though he was a full-time position player for only 10½ seasons. Dixon died in Florence at the age of 82.

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