Project Durham Bulls #51 - Clint Courtney

1962 -1963 Durham Bulls

Background- 

Clint Courtney spent the better part of a decade playing in the Majors as a backup catcher, appearing in games for the Yankees, Browns, Orioles, Senators, White Sox, and A's. Seems like a pretty good player off the bench, but I really like that he was nicknamed  "Scrap Iron" while playing for the St. Louis Browns over two fights he incited with the Yankees.  During one incident he spiked Billy Martin, and then proceeded to punch him when the Yankees infielder protested being spiked.  The following season Courtney spiked Phil Rizzuto, while trying to stretch a single into a double, which resulted in Billy Martin jumping on him during a fight that ensued.  For years, the fight held the American League record for fines.   

Clint Courtney played his last game in the Majors in 1961 for the Baltimore Orioles.  He would spend the next three seasons in the Houston Colts Minor League system working with younger players.  Courtney was 35 and 36 years old for his two seasons with the Durham Bulls.  The Bulls were an Astros affiliate at that time, and they had some good Major League quality talent on the roster.  By the mid 1960s, the Astros used Clint Courtney as their bullpen coach.  He had been considered for several managing jobs along the way.  

After leaving the Astros in 1970, Clint Courtney spent the rest of his life working as a coach in the Minor Leagues.  He managed the Richmond Braves on several different occasions during the 1970s, before he passed away playing ping pong against some of the team's players on a road trip in 1975.  

Card- 

There are not a ton of Clint Courtney cards, but they are all from really good sets.  It was honestly sort of a hard decision to choose which card I should add to my collection.  I ended up narrowing it down to trying to find a St. Louis Browns card, and then after that I decided to go with his 1953 Bowman card.  There are far too few St. Louis Browns cards in my collection.