Boots Grantham
Eli Grba
Pumpsie Green
Jim Greengrass
Howdy Groskloss
Sig Gryska
Doug Gwosdz |
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Baseball was
in his blood
No doubt, Tookie Gilbert came from a baeball family.
His father, Larry, was an outfielder who played with the Boston Braves during the 1914-15 seasons. Later he was a manager in the Southern Association where he eventually became co-owner of the Nashville Vols.
Tookie's brother, Charlie, also played major league baseball, appearing in 364 National League games from 1940-47 with Brooklyn, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Tookie Gilbert, at 6-foot-3, was several inches taller than his father and his brother. He was a first baseman who had two opportunities to make it in the majors, in 1950 and 1953, with the New York Giants. But he batted just .203 and had only 7 home run in 482 at bats. The most memorable home run came in his very first game, a promise of a big league career that was never fulfilled.
Gilbert returned to New Orleans and was a civil sheriff of Orleans Parish in 1967 when he died from a heart attack while driving his car. |
Going ... going ...
it's out of here!
Glen Gorbous may have been able to throw a baseball further than he could hit it. When sportscasters talk about outfielders who have a cannon for an arm ... well, they should mention Gorbous.
He is in the Guinness Book of World Records because in 1957, while playing for Omaha of the American Association, he threw a baseball further than anyone had ever thrown it before: 445 feet, 10 inches.
The record still stands.
Gorbous began as a third baseman and inevitably was used (briefly) as a pitcher later in his minor league career. It's no surprise, I guess, that his throwing arm eventually required surgery, which led to his decision to retire in 1958. |
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| Part 1 |
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| Fabian Gaffke (1913-1992) |
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| Outfielder Fabian Sebastian Gaffke earned his fifteen minutes of fame in 1937. Gaffke had five hits for the Boston Red Sox on April 26 against the Washington Senators. Then, in July, Gaffke scored five runs in a game against the St. Louis Browns, and two days later hit three home runs.
Gaffke batted .288 that season, but it was downhill from there. He had only 10 at bats in 1938 and spent most of the next few seasons in the minors, though he played briefly for Cleveland in 1941 and 1942.
His best seasons were in the American Association playing for the Minneapolis Millers, including 1936 when he batted .342 with 25 home runs and 132 runs batted in.
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| Bad News Galloway (1887-1950) |
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| Infielder James Cato Galloway played briefly with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1912, batting .185 in 54 at bats. He spent two years in the service during World War I. While "Bad News" was his nickname (reason unknown), he usually was called Jim. He was tall for his time (six-foot-three), but was a lot slimmer than today's players, weighing in at 187.
Appropriately, the native of Iredell, Texas, spent most of his baseball career in the Texas League where he had a lifetime average of .298. His best season was with Waco in 1925 when he batted .347 and hit 33 home runs.
He also was a Texas League umpire for three seasons and later was president of the Beaumont team. He was inducted into the Texas League Hall of Fame, something he certainly seems to have earned.
This Jim Galloway is not to be confused with the one called Mr. Softball in the 1960s and '70s. That Jim Galloway is considered slow pitch softball's first superstar. |
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| Nomar Garciaparra (1973- ) |
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He was born Anthony Nomar Garciaparra – his middle name is his father's name, Ramon, spelled backward. As a youngster, Garciaparra's nickname was Glass because kids thought he was so scrawny you could see right through him. He was an easy target for ESPN's Chris Berman who dubbed him Nomar Mr. Nice Guy Garciaparra.
Garciaparra has been plagued by injuries after beginning his career in spectacular fashion with Boston where he twice led the American League in hitting (.357 in 1999; .372 in 2000). He has since played for the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent 2009 with the Oakland Athletics and hit .281 in 65 games. His lifetime batting average remains an impressive .313.
He is married to soccer star Mia Hamm, herself the possessor of a memorable sports name. |
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| Debs Garms (1908-1984) |
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Debs C. Garms was a small (5-foot-8, 165 pound) outfielder who played without much notice on the St. Louis Browns for four seasons (1932-35).
Dispatched to the minors, Garms returned to the bigs in 1937 with the Boston Braves, dividing time between the outfield and third base. He hit .315 in 1938, .298 in 1939, but the Braves sold the singles hitter to Pittsburgh. There, in 1940, he became an unlikely league batting champion, hitting .355. |
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| Welcome Gaston (1872-1944) |
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| The left-handed pitcher wore out his welcome to the major leagues after just three games with Brooklyn, two in 1898 when the team was nicknamed the Bridegrooms (really) and one game in 1899 when the team was known as the Superbas. Gaston had one win, one loss, giving up 13 bases on balls in 19 innings without striking out a batter.
Gaston has a permanent spot on my team because they don't make names like his anymore. His full name was Welcome Thornburg Gaston. |
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| Chippy Gaw (1892-1968) |
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| In 1920, at age 28, this right-handed pitcher started one game and made five relief appearances for the Chicago Cubs, winning one decision, losing another. And if he went by his given name – George Joseph Gaw – I wouldn't have noticed him. But Chippy Gaw? That caught my attention.
He fared much better in the high minor leagues. He won 16 games for Buffalo of the International League in 1915 and again the following season. Gaw pitched only one season more after his brief visit to the majors, retiring from baseball in 1921. |
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| Tookie Gilbert (1929-1967) |
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| As a young boy, Harold Joseph Gilbert played baseball with his older brothers. They called him "Rookie," but Harold pronounced it "Tookie." That's how nicknames are born, but if he had pronounced it the way lots of kids do, then Gilbert would have been the first Wookie. |
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| Carden Gillenwater (1918-2000) |
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| Gillenwater was a childhood favorite, a centerfielder for the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League who had played during the 1940s with the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves and Washington Senators. His big year was 1945 when he hit a solid .288 for the Braves in 144 games, but his average fell 60 points the next season and he returned to the minors where he was an all-star.
His full name: Carden Edison Gillenwater. A pitcher with a similarly unusual name, Claral Lewis Gillenwater, played briefly for the Chicago White Sox in 1923.
The obvious Bermanism: Carden of Eden Gillenwater. |
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| Gordon Goldsberry (1927-1996) |
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A light-hitting first baseman for the Chicago White Sox (1949-51) and St. Louis Browns (1952), Gordon Frederick Goldsberry is better remembered for his years as the Chicago Cubs scouting director. At least, that's what I learned when I researched this project. I'd recalled him strictly because of his terrific name.
Another obvious Bermanism: Gordon good as Goldsberry. |
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| Purnal Goldy (1937- ) |
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| Purnal William Goldy was an outfielder, but sounds like a colorful character from a mystery novel set in the South. Fine, except Goldy was from Camden, New Jersey. He played baseball at Temple University. His major league experience included 29 games with Detroit (1962-63). He batted .231 with three home runs. At six-foot-five, 200 pounds, Goldy had plenty of power. |
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| Glen Gorbous (1930-1990) |
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| Outfielder Glen Edward Gorbous played 115 games in the major leagues, most of them in 1955 with the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. He had hit well in the minor leagues, but batted only .238 in the majors.
He returned to the minor leagues, batted .291 with Spokane of the Pacific Coast League in 1958, then retired. He returned home to Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta, and went into the furniture business. |
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