Roy Joseph Cullenbine (October 18, 1913 – May 28, 1991) was a
Major League Baseball outfielder and
first baseman. He played ten years in the Major Leagues for six teams:
Detroit Tigers (1938–1939 and 1945–1947),
Brooklyn Dodgers (1940),
St. Louis Browns (1940–1942),
Washington Senators (1942),
New York Yankees (1942) and
Cleveland Indians (1943–1945) during his ten-year playing career.
Career
Born in
Nashville, Tennessee, but raised in
Detroit, Michigan, Cullenbine was a switch-hitter and one of the most prolific recipients of
bases on balls in major league history. In his ten year career, he collected almost as many walks (853) as he did hits (1072). Cullenbine was among the
American League leaders in
walks for seven consecutive seasons from 1941-1947. He was once walked four times in the same game by
Lefty Gomez in August 1941. In a game in July 1941 he scored 5 runs in only 2 official at bats.
Driven largely by his ability to draw walks, he had a career
on-base percentage of .408, which was 132 points higher than his career
batting average of .276. His .408 career on base percentage ranks 38th best in the history of Major League baseball, higher than many Hall of Fame legends, including
Honus Wagner,
Joe DiMaggio,
Willie Mays, and
Hank Aaron.
Early years
Cullenbine grew up in Detroit where he played football at
Eastern High School. He served as a batboy for the
Detroit Tigers in 1930. In 1932, legendary scout
Wish Egan saw Cullenbine working out at...
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