Gus Zernial

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Gus Edward Zernial (born June 27, 1923 in Beaumont, Texas) is a former Major League Baseball left-fielder and right-handed batter who played for the Chicago White Sox (1949-51), Philadelphia Athletics (1951-54), Kansas City Athletics (1955-57) and Detroit Tigers (1958-59).

Nicknamed "Ozark Ike" after the popular comic strip character, Zernial was one of the most feared sluggers in the 1950s, joining hall of famers Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Larry Doby in the American League, for most home runs in the decade.

After hit 29 homers for the White Sox in 1950, Zernial was sent to the Athletics in a mega trade that brought Minnie Miñoso to Chicago in 1951. Zernial led the league in home runs (33), runs batted in (129), extra base hits (68), and 17 assists in the outfield. In 1952 he hit 29 homers with 100 RBI, 42 and 108 in 1953.

An aggressive fielder, Zernial twice broke his collarbone while making a diving catch (1949 and 1954). He finished his career in Detroit, primarily as a pinch hitter, hitting .323 with 10 home runs in his new role.

Gus Zernial was a career .265 hitter (1093-for-4131) with 237 home runs, 776 RBI, 572 runs, 159 doubles, 22 triples, and 15 stolen bases in 1234 games.

Zernial was diagnosed with cancer in 1990.

Highlights

• All-Star (1953)
• Led league in home runs (1951)
• Led league in RBI (1951)
• 10 career home runs as a pinch hitter
• Tied a Major League set by Tony Lazzeri with 7 home runs in four successive games (May 13-15-16-17, 1951)
• Hit the last Grand Slam in Philadelphia Athletics history (May 26, 1954)

Related links

• Left fielder
• Pinch hitter
• Top 500 home run hitters of all time

[edit] Trivia

• According to the HBO series, "When It Was a Game," Zernial was a highly paid player in the old Pacific Coast League and took a pay cut to play in the majors.
• When he hit his 6th home run in 3 games in 1951, tying a record, he and a photographer taped six baseballs onto a bat for a novelty photo. [1] The picture was later colorized and became Zernial's 1952 baseball card[2]. Out of context, it looked rather strange, and led Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris, in The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book, to make sarcastic remarks about the picture but with no explanation. More recently, in a Sports Illustrated special about "Faces in the Crowd" (dated December 15, 2006) columnist Steve Rushin referenced that same card, with similar remarks (calling it the "Mona Lisa" of baseball cards), and with a similar lack of explanation.

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Baseball Library

Preceded by Al Rosen	American League Home Run Champion 1951	Succeeded by Larry Doby
Preceded by Walt Dropo & Vern Stephens	American League RBI Champion 1951	Succeeded by Al Rosen