Fred Payne

Who was Fred Payne?

Frederick Thomas Payne was a Major League Baseball player who played six seasons in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

Payne played in a total of 334 major league games, of which 271 were as a catcher. In 1906, he was part of the first season-long platoon arrangement in baseball, sharing time at catcher with Jack Warner and Boss Schmidt. He played on the Tigers with Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford that won American League pennants in 1907 and 1908. Payne played two games in the 1907 World Series, with a single in four at bats. Payne had a career batting average of .215 and had 194 hits, 86 RBIs, 82 runs scored, 21 stolen bases, 16 doubles, 12 triples, and 1 home run. Payne died in 1954 at age 73. He was born and died in Camden, New York.