Danny Napoleon

Napoleon played baseball, football, basketball and track at Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey. Shortly after graduation, his father passed away. While playing at Rider University, he caught the eye of the Mets, and signed as an amateur free agent with them prior to the 1964 season.[1]

He batted .351 with 36 home runs and 134 runs batted in his first year of professional baseball to carry the Auburn Mets to a 79-48 record and first place in the New York–Penn League. In order to protect him from being selected in the minor league draft, the Mets added him to their forty man roster.[2]

Napoleon made his major league debut on April 14, 1965 in the eleventh inning of an extra innings affair with the Houston Astros. He singled off Hal Woodeshick in his first major league at bat.[3] Ten days later, Napoleon hit a pinch hit bases loaded triple off the San Francisco Giants' Bob Shaw for his first three major league RBIs.[4]

Despite being predominantly an outfielder, Napoleon made his first six appearances on the field at third base. He saw most of his action as a pinch hitter or pinch runner, and was batting .176 with six RBIs when he was demoted to triple A in early August to receive more playing time. In thirty games with the Buffalo Bisons, Napoleon batted .274 with one home run and nine RBIs. He rejoined the Mets in September, and went 1-for-23.

He spent the 1966 season with the Jacksonville Suns. He was second on the team with fifteen home runs and third with 53 RBIs. He was called up to the Mets again that September, and batted .212 in twelve games.

Just as the 1967 season was getting underway, Napoleon and shortstop Eddie Bressoud were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Art Mahaffey and infielders Jerry Buchek and Tony Martínez and Napoleon spent the 1967 with the Tulsa Oikers, the St. Louis Triple-A affiliate.

He batted .314 in 1969 for the Texas League's Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A team for the Cardinals. He played and coached with Arkansas through 1971, but never returned to the majors.

In 1977, Napoleon played professional softball with the New Jersey Statesmen of the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), playing alongside fellow Major League Baseball alumnus Curt Blefary.[5][6]

Napoleon also worked for the New Jersey State Department of Treasury and was an original employee at the Candlelight Lounge in Trenton. He was employed by General Motors at the time of his death. Napoleon died on April 26, 2003, survived by his wife and three children.[7]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or The Ultimate Mets Database
• Danny Napoleon at Find a Grave