John Ellis Temple (August 8, 1927 - January 9, 1994) was a Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Cincinnati teams Redlegs (1952-59) and Reds (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 the first interleague trade in major league history (December 16, 1959). Temple also played with Baltimore and Houston, and again with Cincinnati for his last major season. He worked as a Houston sportscaster after his retirement.

Johnny Temple died in Anderson, South Carolina at age of 66.

Highlights

• 4-time All-Star (1956,57,59,61)
• Hit .300-plus three seasons (1954,58,59)
• Tied for the NL lead in walks (94; 1957)
• Led NL second basemen in putouts 3 times (1954,55,58)
• Led NL second baseman in assists (1956)
• Led NL second basemen in double plays (1955)

External links

• Johnny Temple at:
  • Baseball Almanac (miscellaneous)
  • Baseball Library (profile)
  • Baseball Reference (stats)
  • Cincinnati Reds All Time Team