Matthew Daniel Batts (October 16, 1921 – July 14, 2013) was an American professional backup baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1947 through 1956 for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, with brief trades to Baltimore and Cleveland. A slap hitter, Batts played mostly backup roles over the course of his career; during parts of ten MLB seasons, he appeared in 546 games with a .269 batting average, 26 home runs, and 219 runs batted in.\n', '

Batts was born in San Antonio, Texas. When his mother died, his father married his mother\'s sister. He was the uncle of former major leaguer Danny Heep.\n', '

Growing up in the sandlots of San Antonio, Batts batted and threw right-handed. But in a fluke position change up, he found his niche behind the plate on a semipro team. He was a freshman at Baylor University and was recruited by Red Sox scouts. However, in 1942 when he signed with Boston in exchange for paying his tuition, the Baylor team dropped him.[citation needed]\n', '

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