American baseball player (1932–2021)
Baseball player
Coot Veal Shortstop Born: (1932-07-09 ) July 9, 1932Sandersville, Georgia , U.S.Died: March 14, 2021(2021-03-14) (aged 88)Macon, Georgia , U.S.Batted: Right
Threw: Right
July 30, 1958, for the Detroit Tigers June 20, 1963, for the Detroit Tigers Batting average .231 Home runs 1 Runs batted in 51
Orville Inman "Coot" Veal (July 9, 1932 – March 14, 2021) was an American professional baseball shortstop . He was signed by the Detroit Tigers before the 1952 season and played in all or portions of six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tigers (1958–1960; 1963), Washington Senators (1961), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1962). Born in Sandersville, Georgia , Veal threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, and weighed 165 pounds (75 kg).
Veal attended Auburn University , where he played baseball and basketball . Selected in the 1960 American League expansion draft , he was the first player to come to bat in the history of the second modern (1961–71) Washington Senators franchise, now the Texas Rangers . On April 10, 1961, at Griffith Stadium , with President John F. Kennedy having thrown out the first ball, Veal led off the bottom of the first inning against Hall of Fame right-hander Early Wynn of the Chicago White Sox . He reached base on an infield single near third base , was advanced to second on a Marty Keough single to left, then scored (along with Keough) on a Gene Woodling triple .
Veal was a very good defensive shortstop (.976), but his bat was somewhat weak. He had a lifetime average of .231, with 141 hits , 26 doubles , three triples , and one home run (a solo shot against the White Sox' Billy Pierce on August 11, 1959)[ 1] at bats and a slugging percentage of .288. He scored 75 runs and drove in 51 in his 247 big-league games. His last year as an active player was 1964.
Veal was inducted into the Macon, Georgia , Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
Death
Veal died on March 14, 2021, at the age of 88.[ 2]
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