Johnny Riddle

Who was Johnny Riddle?

John Ludy Riddle was an American Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates. At the age of 42 in 1948, he was the oldest player to appear in a National League game that season. His younger brother was major league pitcher Elmer Riddle.

Johnny Riddle was born in Clinton, South Carolina. His playing career was unusual in that not only did he once go seven years between major league appearances, it also took a span of nineteen years to appear in seven major league seasons. In those seven seasons, he got into only 98 games, an average of 14 per year.

He made his major league debut on April 17, 1930 against the Cleveland Indians at Comiskey Park. His last game was September 11, 1948 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. In his MLB career he was 51-for-214 with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 11 runs batted in, and 18 runs scored. On defense he made only 5 errors and had a good fielding percentage of .983.

He spent a 10¹⁄₂ years as a coach in the National League, for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Redlegs, and Philadelphia Phillies.