LOS ANGELES – EDDIE MALONE, a former MLB and Pacific Coast League baseball player who designed one of the sport's most popular bats, has died. He was 85.

Malone died on Thursday 01 June 2006 at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, after a long battle with a respiratory illness, his family said.

A scrappy 5-foot-10-inch, 175-pound catcher, Malone played for the Chicago White Sox in 1949 and 1950, but he probably was best known for his years with the Los Angeles Angels and the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.

Malone's best season was 1949, when he batted .341 for the Angels and was then purchased by the White Sox.

He hit .271 with a home run and 16 runs batted in for Chicago in 55 games in 1949 and batted .225 in 31 games in 1950.

"He was a tough guy, an ironman kind of catcher and a good guy," said Dick Beverage, president of the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. " He had a catcher's grip, a handshake that was strong, and you remembered it."

Malone is credited with helping to design Hillerich & Bradsby's Louisville Slugger M110 model baseball bat.

The M stands for Malone, with the number indicating he was the 110th player whose last name begins with M to develop his own bat model.

The bat, which has a medium-size handle and barrel, and a fairly large knob, was used by New York Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle and St. Louis Cardinals great Stand Musial, remaining one of the company's most popular models with major league players, said Chuck Schupp, who runs Hillerich and Bradsby's pro bat division.

It has been said that the M110 bat has been used by more players at every level of both amateur and professional baseball than any other single bat  model ever produced. EDWARD RUSSELL MALONE was born on 16 June 1920, in Chicago.

He attended Washington High School in Los Angeles and began his professional baseball career in 1938 with Albuquerque, the St. Louis Cardinals' affiliate in the Class D Arizona-Texas League. Malone played a season at Pocatello, Idaho, and two in Asheville, North Carolina, before arriving at Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941.

The next season, he again played at Duluth and doubled as the team's manager, at age 22. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, then resumed his baseball career. Malone played for the Angels for 2 1/2 seasons before making his major league debut. He finished his career in 1954 after three-plus seasons with the Hollywood Stars. He worked as a car salesman during the off-season and opened a car dealership in Fontana after he retired as a player.

Malone, who had lived in Laguna Hills since 1985, is survived by three daughters: Judy Edwards, Carole Nelson and Gail Ross; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and companion Kim Kever.

"Baseball was always a big part of his life," Carole Nelson said. " The camaraderie he felt on a team was something that was important to him his whole life."

Transactions -

Before 1938 Season - Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent.

Before 1946 Season - Sent from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs in an unknown transaction.

13 July 1949 - Purchased by the Chicago White Sox from the Chicago Cubs.

MLB CAREER  BATTING

Year	Ag	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	TB	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GDP
1949	29	CHW	AL	55	170	17	46	7	2	1	16	2	1	29	19	.271	.377	.353	60	1			0	4
1950	30	CHW	AL	31	71	2	16	2	0	0	10	0	0	10	8	.225	.321	.254	18	0			0	7

2 Seasons

86

241

19

62

9

2

1

26

2

1

39

27

.257

.361

.324

78

1

0

11

162 Game Avg

454

36

117

17

4

2

49

4

2

73

51

.257

.361

.324

147

2

0

21

Career High

55

170

17

46

7

2

1

16

2

1

29

19

60

1

0

7

SPECIAL TO CANADIAN BASEBALL NEWS – 8 JUNE 2006