Dick Whitman
Dick Corwin Whitman (November 9, 1920 – February 12, 2003) was an American professional baseball player. The outfielder, a native of Woodburn, Oregon, appeared in 285 games in Major League Baseball over all or parts of six seasons (1946–1951) for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and . Early career and military service Whitman played college baseball at the University of Oregon and signed with Brooklyn prior to the 1942 baseball season. He played for two lower-level Dodger farm teams that year and hit a composite .313. Then he entered the United States Army for World War II service. Sent to the European Theater in December 1944, he was a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, earning a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and three battle stars. Major league career He returned to baseball in , and in only his second pro season, he won a place on the Dodgers' MLB roster. As a rookie, Whitman was the pennant-contending Dodgers' starting left-fielder and #3 hitter on Opening Day, April 16 against the Boston Braves. Although he was held hitless in his first two National League games, he was Brooklyn's regular