| Bill Bruton |
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In a 12-year career, Bruton posted a .273 Batting Average with 94 Home Run s and 545 RBI in 1610 Games . As a teammate of Hank Aaron , Joe Adcock , Lew Burdette , Johnny Logan , Eddie Mathews , Red Schoendienst , Warren Spahn and Bobby Thomson , Bruton was the Leadoff hitter, chief Base Stealer and rangy center fielder for the powerful Milwaukee Braves teams of the 1950s . Bruton started his career when the Braves franchise moved to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953 . He became an immediate hero when he hit a 10th-inning home run that gave the Braves a 3-2 victory over St. Louis in Milwaukee's first major league game. A line drive hitter and speedy runner, he led the National League in stolen bases for three consecutive seasons (1953-55), two times in Triples (1956, 1960) and once in Runs (1960). He also led off games with home runs twelve times. In 1957 , a knee injury cost Bruton half of the season and a chance to play in the World Series , which Milwaukee won. The next year, he came back in good form and was the leading hitter with a .412 average in the 1958 World Series , when the Braves lost in seven games with the Yankees . Bruton hit three triples in a game during the 1959 season. Two of his triples were with the bases loaded –the one and only time it occurred in the National League in the 20th Century . He played eight seasons with the Braves before calling it quits in 1964 after four years with the Detroit Tigers. Bruton died in a car accident in Marshallton, Delaware , while driving near his home in Wilmington , at age of 69. EXTERNAL LINKS
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