Rookie of the Year: Gil McDougald, 1951

Third Baseman/Second Baseman, New York Yankees

Age:  23 (May 19)

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 175 

Prior to 1951:

A San Francisco native, McDougald was an All-City basketball player at Commerce High School and didn’t make the school’s varsity baseball team until he was a senior, when injuries derailed his season. Following graduation in 1946, he attended the City College of San Francisco and the University of San Francisco while playing semipro baseball with the Bayside Braves. With an odd batting stance that put off many scouts (despite being effective), the Yankees signed him at $200 per month with a $1000 bonus in 1948. Starting off with Twin Falls of the Class C Pioneer League, the recently married 20-year-old batted .340 in 101 games and was selected as the league’s all-star second baseman. Promoted to the Victoria Athletics of the Class B Western International League in 1949, he hit .344 with 44 doubles, 7 triples, 13 home runs, and 116 RBIs and was again a league all-star. In 1950 he moved up to the Beaumont Roughnecks of the Class AA Texas League where he came under the guidance of curmudgeonly Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who managed the club. He had an MVP season with Beaumont, batting.336 with a league-leading 187 hits, 47 of them for extra bases, and he was also impressive in the field. With the Yankees having lost some infielders to military service due to the Korean War, manager Casey Stengel installed McDougald at third base in 1951.

1951 Season Summary

Appeared in 131 games

3B – 83, 2B – 54, PH – 8, PR – 6

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 473

At Bats – 402

Runs – 72

Hits – 123

Doubles – 23

Triples – 4

Home Runs – 14 [15]

RBI – 63

Bases on Balls – 56

Int. BB – 1

Strikeouts – 54 [16, tied with Eddie Robinson]

Stolen Bases – 14 [4, tied with Chico Carrasquel & Bobby Avila]

Caught Stealing – 5 [20, tied with five others]

Average - .306 [Non-qualifying]

OBP - .396 [Non-qualifying]

Slugging Pct. - .488 [Non-qualifying]

Total Bases – 196

GDP – 12

Hit by Pitches – 4 [12, tied with eight others]

Sac Hits – 11 [7, tied with four others]

Sac Flies – N/A

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 11, HR - 5, RBI - 21, AVG - .296, OBP - .388, SLG - .508

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) at Bos. Red Sox 5/28

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

Most HR, game – 1 on fourteen occasions

HR at home – 7

HR on road – 7

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 6 at St. Louis Browns 5/3

Pinch-hitting/running – 0 for 7 (.000) with 1 R & 1 BB

 

Fielding (3B)

Chances – 175

Put Outs – 54

Assists – 112

Errors – 9

DP - 20

Pct. - .949

Postseason Batting: 6 G (World Series vs. NY Giants)

PA – 25, AB – 23, R – 2, H – 6, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 7, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS – 1, AVG - .261, OBP - .320, SLG -.435, TB – 10, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – N/A

Awards & Honors:

AL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

9^th in AL MVP voting (63 points, 19% share)

AL ROY Voting (Top 5):

Gil McDougald, NYY: 13 of 24 votes, 54% share

Minnie Minoso, Clev./ChiWS.: 11 votes, 46% share

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Yankees went 98-56 to win the AL pennant by 5 games over the Cleveland Indians while leading the league in home runs (140) and slugging (.408). The Yankees battled Cleveland until clinching the pennant on RHP Allie Reynolds’ second no-hitter of the season. Won World Series over the New York Giants, 4 games to 2 for their third straight title, with McDougald hitting a grand slam in Game 1 as part of his 7 RBIs over the six games. 

Aftermath of ‘51:

McDougald followed up with his first All-Star season in 1952, batting .263 with 11 home runs and 78 RBIs. He added a home run in the World Series victory over Brooklyn. In 1953 his average rebounded to .285 with 27 doubles, 7 triples, 10 home runs, and 83 RBIs. He hit two more homers in the six-game World Series win against the Dodgers. Following two seasons in which he played almost exclusively at third base, he split his time between second and third in 1954. A slow start at the plate pulled his production down to .259 with 22 doubles, 12 home runs, and 48 RBIs. Primarily appearing at second base, where he was outstanding defensively, in 1955, McDougald batted .285 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs as the Yankees returned to pennant-winning form. Shifted to shortstop for the most part in 1956, he was an All-Star who hit .311 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs, placing seventh in league MVP voting. In Game 5 of the World Series against Brooklyn, he made an outstanding play on a line drive that was deflected off the glove of third baseman Andy Carey to throw out batter Jackie Robinson and thus preserve RHP Don Larsen’s perfect game. In 1957 an event occurred that left a lasting impact on McDougald when a line drive off of his bat struck Cleveland’s star LHP Herb Score in the head, resulting in significant injury. McDougald expressed his regret over the incident, which ultimately derailed Score’s promising career. Not yet knowing how things would play out at that point, he went on to another All-Star season, batting .289 and tying for the league lead in triples (9) while also hitting 13 home runs with 62 RBIs. He played at shortstop and second and third base with aplomb as manager Casey Stengel juggled his lineup throughout the season and was credited for his versatility in the field as well as his rally-starting ability as a batter. He placed fifth in AL MVP voting. His hitting dropped off in 1958 to .250 with 14 home runs and 65 RBIs and he primarily played at second base due to the rise of young Tony Kubek at shortstop. In a down 1959 season for the Yankees, McDougald hit .251 and split his time between third, second, and short. He played one more season in 1960, playing primarily at third and occasionally second while batting .258 with 8 home runs and 34 RBIs. He turned down an offer to play for the expansion Los Angeles Angels and retired. For his major league career, spent entirely with the Yankees, McDougald batted .276 with 1291 hits that included 187 doubles, 51 triples, and 112 home runs. He scored 697 runs and compiled 576 RBIs and a .356 on-base percentage. He appeared in 53 World Series games and hit .237 with 7 home runs and 24 RBIs. The quiet man of good character became involved in community service and coached baseball at Fordham University. He remained deeply affected by the injury that his batted ball inflicted on Herb Score. Struggling with deafness in later years, he died in 2010 at age 82. 

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.