Johnny Temple

Johnny Temple

John Ellis Temple (August 8, 1927 – January 9, 1994) was a Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Redlegs/Reds (1952–59; 1964); Cleveland Indians (1960–61), Baltimore Orioles (1962) and Houston Colt .45s (1962–63). Temple was born in Lexington, North Carolina. He batted and threw right-handed.

Temple was a career .284 hitter with 22 home runs and 395 RBI in 1420 games. A legitimate leadoff hitter and four-time All-Star, he was a very popular player in Cincinnati in the 1950s. Throughout his career, he walked more often than he struck out, compiling an outstanding 1.92 walk-to-strikeout ratio (648-to-338) and a .363 on base percentage. Temple also had above-average speed and good instincts on the base paths. Quietly, he had 140 steals in 198 attempts (71%). Defensively, he showed great range with a strong and accurate arm.

Temple enjoyed his best year in 1959, with career-highs in batting average (.311), home runs (8), RBI (67), runs (102), hits (186), at-bats (598), doubles (35) and triples (6). At the end of the season he was sent to Cleveland for Billy Martin, Gordy Coleman and Cal McLish, in one of the first interleague trades in major league history (December 16, 1959). Temple also played with Baltimore and Houston, and again with Cincinnati for his last major season, where he was a part-time coach. However he reported to spring training out of shape and only had three plate appearances. In August, he fought with fellow coach Reggie Otero and was released. He did not fare well after baseball where bad investments rendered him nearly broke. Temple died in Anderson, South Carolina in 1994 at the age of 66.