Babe Borton

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Babe Borton

|position=First baseman

|image=Babe Borton 1913.jpg

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date|1888|8|14}}

|birth_place=Marion, Illinois, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1954|7|29|1888|8|14}}

|death_place=Berkeley, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 2

|debutyear=1912

|debutteam=Chicago White Sox

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 10

|finalyear=1916

|finalteam=St. Louis Browns

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.270

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=4

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=136

|teams=

}}

William Baker "Babe" Borton (August 14, 1888 – July 29, 1954) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. Borton played for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Terriers, and St. Louis Browns from 1912 to 1916. He stood {{height|ft=6|in=0}}.

Biography

Borton was born in Marion, Illinois in 1888. He started his professional baseball career in 1910, at the age of 21. In 1912, he was hitting .369 in the Western League[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=borton001wil "Babe Borton Minor League Statistics & History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-04. when he was acquired by the Chicago White Sox late in the season. He played one season for them before being traded with Rollie Zeider to the New York Yankees for Hal Chase. He hit just .130 in 33 games for New York and was released.{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/aab1d59b|title = Hal Chase – Society for American Baseball Research}} In 1914, he played in the Pacific Coast League.

1915 was Borton's only full major league campaign. With the St. Louis Terriers, he led the Federal League in walks (92) and runs scored (97) and was fourth in on-base percentage (.395). After the season, the Federal League folded, and Borton was purchased by the American League's Browns. He hit just .224 in 1916 and never played in the majors again. From 1917 to 1920, he played in the Pacific Coast League. He batted .303 in 1919, as his team – the Vernon Tigers – won the pennant. In 1920, he was batting .326 late in the season when he was suspended.

In July 1920, Borton had tried to bribe an opposing pitcher into throwing a game. As details in the scandal emerged, it was discovered that he and some Vernon teammates had also bribed opponents in 1919 to throw the pennant to the Tigers.Ginsburg, Daniel E. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lOjvggO19joC The Fix Is in: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals] (McFarland, 2004), pp. 265–272. Borton was eventually cleared of any criminal charges in December,[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/12/25/103521374.pdf "Quash Indictments Against Players"]. The New York Times, December 25, 1920. but along with Harl Maggert, Gene Dale, and Bill Rumler, Borton was expelled from the Pacific Coast League.[http://www.sportshollywood.com/vernontigers.html "Vernon Tigers"]. sportshollywood.com. Retrieved 2010-11-04.

Borton never played in organized baseball after 1920. He later worked for Standard Oil until his death in 1954.[http://www.thedeadballera.com/DeathCertificates/Certicicates_B/Borton.Babe.DC.pdf "Babe Borton Death Certificate"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130111126/http://thedeadballera.com/DeathCertificates/Certicicates_B/Borton.Babe.DC.pdf |date=2010-11-30 }}. thedeadballera.com. Retrieved 2010-11-04.