| Danny Litwhiler | |
|---|---|
 Litwhiler's 1949Bowman Gum baseball card | |
| Left fielder | |
| Born:(1916-08-31)August 31, 1916 Ringtown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: September 23, 2011(2011-09-23) (aged 95) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 25, 1940, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 25, 1951, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .281 |
| Home runs | 107 |
| Runs batted in | 451 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Medals | |
Daniel Webster Litwhiler (August 31, 1916 – September 23, 2011) was an American professionalbaseball player andcoach. He played inMajor League Baseball as anoutfielder from 1940 to 1951 for theBoston Braves,St. Louis Cardinals,Philadelphia Phillies, andCincinnati Reds. He was the first Major League Baseball player to have an error-free season while playing a full-time position on defense.[1] That same season, 1942, he also became the first player to stitch together the fingers of his glove. After his playing career, he continued to work in baseball as a coach in college sports.
Before entering baseball, Litwhiler graduated from college, unlike most major leaguers at the time.[2] He graduated fromBloomsburg State Teacher's College in 1938, earning a bachelor's degree in Science and Social Sciences. The baseball facility at Bloomsburg is named Danny Litwhiler Field.[2]
After finishing the 1941 season with a .305 batting average, Litwhiler was selected to the All Star game in 1942, where he hit safely in his only at-bat.
In 1942, he recorded 308putouts and 9assists without making an error for a 1.000fielding percentage. Litwhiler had an errorless streak of 187 games before making an error on May 20, 1943, the only error he made that season as he led all outfielders in fielding percentage for the second straight year with a .996 fielding percentage.
Litwhiler was traded to the Cardinals in 1943 and was a key player for them in the 1944 World Series against the St. Louis Browns. He played left field in five of the six games and had four hits with one RBI and two runs scored.
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Litwhiler coached atFlorida State University from 1955 to 1963, and led them to threeCollege World Series appearances.
He then coached atMichigan State University from 1964 to 1982, and holds the record for most wins by a coach in the school's history. Among his former players areSteve Garvey,Kirk Gibson andRick Miller.[3]
During his coaching career, he invented a very effective method of drying baseball fields after rain using calcined clay which was marketed as Diamond Grit, enabling play to resume very quickly and in the process saving organized baseball millions of dollars over the decades. He was also one of the first coaches to make use of radar guns to measure pitching velocity, which effectively revolutionized the assessment of pitchers. It first came on the market in collaboration with the Jugs company, known as the Jugs Gun.
Litwhiler died on September 23, 2011, inClearwater, Florida, at age 95.[3]
· Baseball Almanac| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
