Gus Zernial

Zernial was born on June 27, 1923, in Beaumont, Texas. He was one of ten children. In 1942, Zernial played 95 games of Minor League Baseball (MiLB) with the Class D Waycroft Bears of the Georgia–Florida League. He had a .286 batting average, with three home runs. He did not play in he minor leagues again until 1946. He entered the United States Navy in October 1942, at 6 ft (1.83 m) 179 lb (81.2 kg), and was in the service for three years during World War II. He served as an Armed Guard radio technician on liberty ships and tankers. When he left the Navy three years later, he was 6 ft 2½ in (1.89 m) 220 lb (99.8 kg). == Professional career ==

Minor leagues Zernial returned to MiLB play in 1946 with the Class C Burlington Bees of the Carolina League. He hit .333, with 41 home runs, 29 doubles, 111 runs batted in (RBI), 114 runs scored and a .649 slugging percentage. He led the Carolina League in home runs and slugging percentage, was fourth in batting average, and eighth in RBIs. His 41 home runs set a league record. On November 1, 1946, the Cleveland Indians selected Zernial in the Rule 5 major league draft from Atlanta of the Double-A Southern Association. Cleveland optioned him to the Triple-A Baltimore Orioles of the International League, but he was only there a short time in 1947. In late April, Cleveland sold Zernial's contract rights to the Chicago White Sox. In 1947, he played for the Triple-A Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), a Chicago White Sox affiliate. He had a .344 batting average with 12 home runs, 77 RBIs, 61 runs and a .919 OPS (on base plus slugging). His .344 batting average was fourth best in the PCL that season. Before the start of the 1948 season, he tore muscles in his right leg during training camp. He led the PCL in RBIs, was second in runs scored, third in home runs and sixth in slugging percentage. He had two home runs and five RBIs during a single inning of a game that season. However, he accepted the pay cut and joined the White Sox. After returning, he hit .318, with five home runs, 38 RBIs, 29 runs and an .866 OPS on the season. He had the highest batting average, slugging percentage and OPS on the White Sox that season. He played a full season in 1950, batting .280, with 29 home runs, 93 RBIs and an .815 OPS. He was fifth in the American League (AL) in home runs, and led the league in strikeouts with 110. His 29 home runs set a White Sox record. Philadelphia Athletics On April 30, 1951, the White Sox traded Zernial and Dave Philley to the Philadelphia Athletics as part of a three-team trade. (Zernial and Philley would room together on the A's. He played in left field for the A's, with a .974 fielding percentage and 17 assists. Defensively he led all AL outfielders with a career-high 18 assists. He had a batting average near .300 in 50 night games, but only .268 in day games that season. Zernial believed that night games required much more concentration when batting, but batters were subject to considerable sun glare playing day games in Chicago. He also believed switching between night and day games instead of steadily playing in one environment was difficult. He was fourth in the AL in RBIs and tied for fourth in home runs. He led AL left fielders in putouts (302) and errors (9), and was third in assists (6). In 1953, he hit .284, with a career-high 42 home runs, 108 RBIs, 85 runs and a .919 OPS. He finished 18th in voting for AL Most Valuable Player. He was second in the AL in home runs to Al Rosen's 43, second in slugging percentage (.559), third in OPS, and tied for fourth in RBIs with Yogi Berra. In 1953, he led all AL left fielders in putouts (303) and assists (17). In July 1954, Zernial fractured his collarbone for the second time, this time on the left side. The injury occurred when he was diving in an effort to catch a line drive in left field, in a game against the Boston Red Sox. The A's moved to Kansas City, Missouri before the 1955 season. Zernial played in 120 games, starting 102 in left field. He hit .254, with 30 home runs and 84 RBIs, in only 413 at bats. Mantle have over 100 more at bats than Zernial that season. In 1956, Zernial appeared in 109 games for the A's, but started only 68 in the field. He hit .224, with 16 home runs and 44 RBIs in 272 at bats. In 1957, he started 111 games in the field of the 131 games in which he appeared, batting .236, with 27 home runs and 69 RBIs. He was fifth in the AL in home runs. Detroit Tigers In November 1957, the A's traded Zernial, Billy Martin, Tom Morgan, Lou Skizas, Mickey McDermott and Tim Thompson to the Detroit Tigers for Bill Tuttle, Jim Small, Duke Maas, John Tsitouris, Frank House, Kent Hadley and a player to be named later (Jim McManus). In 1959, his final season, Zernial started 31 games at first base for the Tigers, appearing in 60 games overall. By the end of the season, however, he had a .227 batting average, with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in 132 at bats. The Tigers released him on October 26, 1959. == Legacy and honors ==

Zernial was a career .265 hitter (1,093-for-4,131) with 237 home runs, 776 RBI, 572 runs, 159 doubles, 22 triples, 15 stolen bases and 383 bases on balls in 1,234 games. At one time, he held the career pinch hit home run record (10), along with Smoky Burgess and George Crowe, until Crowe hit is 11th pinch hit home run in May 1960. He hit the 9th most home runs (232) in the decade of the 1950s; with seven of the eight players above him being in the Hall of Fame. Zernial was the first player to hit three home runs in the final game of a season, a record equalled by Dick Allen in 1968, and Evan Longoria and Dan Johnson in 2012. He was the first major leaguer to hit four home runs in the month of October during the regular season, since 1900, which he accomplished during a doubleheader on October 1, 1950. In 1980, Mike Schmidt became the first NL player to do so; and in 1985 they were joined by Ron Kittle, George Brett and Dave Parker, and then by Wally Joyner in 1987. Sal Maglie, former star pitcher for the New York Giants, wrote that Zernial had a "pretty big" strike zone, due to his stand-up posture when he was at the plate. An aggressive fielder, Zernial twice (1949 and 1954) broke his collarbone while making diving catches. This photo recognized that he had tied an American League record by hitting six home runs in three consecutive games from May 13–16, 1951. The day after the picture was taken, he hit his seventh home run in a fourth consecutive game, tying a record set by Tony Lazzeri. Later in life, Zernial appeared at baseball memorabilia shows. In 2001, Zernial was added to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. In 2002, he was named to the Philadelphia Athletics All-Century Team. He is a member of the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. Zernial and Al Zarilla teamed up in April 1951 to become the only players whose last names started with "Z" to play together in the same outfield. Zernial and Zarilla played left and right field, respectively, as part of a White Sox outfield unit in the first four games of the 1951 season, before Zernial was traded to the Philadelphia A's at the end of April. Zarilla batted third and Zernial cleanup in the White Sox batting order. == Personal life and death ==

In early 1950, he was recruited to appear in the motion picture, Kill The Umpire. He declined the role because he was focused on rehabilitating from his 1949 collarbone injury so he would be ready to play and be productive in the 1950 season. After retiring, he and his family ultimately moved to Clovis, California, near Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley. He did television commercials and was a sports anchor at ABC30 in Fresno. He did radio play-by-play for Fresno State University's sports teams. Zernial later was very involved in bringing a new minor league baseball team, the Fresno Grizzlies, and a new baseball stadium, Chukchanski Park, to Fresno. == See also ==