Herb Gorman
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Herbert Allen Gorman (December 19, 1924 – April 5, 1953) was an American professional baseball player. He had only one Major League at bat in a single game played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1952; then, the following season, he died at age 28 after he was stricken with a fatal heart attack while he was playing a minor league game.
Career
Gorman was Jewish.[1] Born in San Francisco, he threw and batted left-handed, stood Script error: No such module "convert". tall, and weighed Script error: No such module "convert".. His minor league career spanned eleven seasons, from 1943 until 1953, with 1944–45 missed during Gorman's military service in the United States Coast Guard during World War II.[2]
Originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, he began his career as a first baseman and moved to the outfield in 1949. In Gorman's one MLB at bat, on April 19, 1952, at Wrigley Field, he pinch hit for Cardinals' pitcher Willard Schmidt and grounded out to second base against Cubs' starter Turk Lown.[3] He spent the remainder of 1952 with the San Diego Padres of the top-level Pacific Coast League, batting .261 in 108 games.
After returning to the Padres in 1953, he was playing left field on April 5 in a home game against the Hollywood Stars, his former PCL team. According to accounts of the game, he had hit two doubles but left the contest when he complained of chest pain during the sixth inning.[4] He died en route to a local hospital from a massive heart attack.[5][6]
Lefty O'Doul, his manager in San Diego, commented that Gorman "never complained, never caused trouble – he just wanted to play. I wanted to see how some rookies would do, so that's why he was making his first start. But I quickly saw that Gorman should play. A quiet fellow who just minded his own business. It's a terrible loss for his family and our team."[7]
He was interred at Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose.[8]
In 2002, he was inducted into the San Francisco Hall of Fame.[9]
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Bedingfield, Gary, "Those Who Served," Baseball in Wartime
- ↑ 1952-4-19 box score from Retrosheet
- ↑ Newspaper article, The Associated Press, April 6, 1953
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ "Herb Gorman", Retrosheet
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
- Career statistics from Script error: No such module "String".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Baseball Almanac page
- Pages with script errors
- 1924 births
- 1953 deaths
- 20th-century American Jews
- Baseball players from San Francisco
- Hollywood Stars players
- Jewish American baseball players
- Jewish American military personnel
- Johnstown Johnnies players
- Montreal Royals players
- Pueblo Dodgers players
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- San Diego Padres (minor league) players
- Spokane Indians players
- Sports deaths in California
- Trois-Rivières Royals players
- United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
- 20th-century American sportsmen