Gail Hopkins
| Gail Hopkins | |
|---|---|
| First baseman | |
|
Born: February 19, 1943 Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
| Batted: Left | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| June 29, 1968 for the Chicago White Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1974 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .266 |
| Home runs | 25 |
| Runs batted in | 145 |
| Teams | |
| |
Gail Eason Hopkins (born February 19, 1943) is a former Major League Baseball player and coach. Before reaching the majors, he was a catcher at Pepperdine University, where he was named an All-American in 1963. He was primarily a first baseman and catcher in the majors, and was the first Pepperdine baseball player to play Major League Baseball.[1] Hopkins also played basketball at Pepperdine. He recalls that part of why he chose Pepperdine was that he had gone to high school in southern California and wanted to stay in the area; he also wanted to study both religion and biology, and Pepperdine gave him the chance to do so. Hopkins was raised in the Churches of Christ.[2]
He played from 1968-1974 with the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers, and was a member of the 1974 National League champion Dodgers (though he did not see action in the postseason). He played in over 100 games each season between 1969 and 1971.[3] He subsequently played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Nankai Hawks in the Japanese Leagues.
In Nolan Ryan's first career no-hitter (May 15, 1973), Hopkins appeared as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 8th inning, and hit a bloop fly that Angels shortstop Rudy Meoli caught with a running catch. Ryan stated in his autobiography "Throwing Heat" that Hopkins' out was the closest he came to losing the no-hitter.
After his baseball career ended, he earned three graduate degrees: a Master's in Religion at Pepperdine, a Doctorate in Biology at the Illinois Institute of Technology and an M. D. degree from Rush Medical College, and went on to be an orthopedic surgeon.[4] He is currently on the board of directors for Ohio Valley University, a Churches of Christ affiliated college in West Virginia.,[5] where he also served as Adjunct Professor of both Bible and Biology.[6] A 2001 story on Hopkins referred to him as a "thoughtful individual whose love for God forms the center of his life and whose strong convictions shape that life".[7]
References
- ↑ Pepperdine Sports Information (press release), "Dr. Gail Hopkins To Be Inducted Into WCC Hall of Honor", February 16, 2010: http://www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=102025&SPID=12616&DB_OEM_ID=18500&ATCLID=204889142 . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Pepperdine University, "Hear From Dr. Gail Hopkins, Hall of Honor Inductee". Video interview, March 6, 2010. http://www.nmnathletics.com/newMediaPlayer/sl/console.htm?SPID=10848&CLIP_ID=687147&id=696326&oemid=18500&DB_OEM_ID=18500&DB_MENU_ID=&db_oem_id=18500&SPSID=90171&type=vod&CLIP_FILE_ID=696326 . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Baseball-Reference.com. "Gail Hopkins". http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hopkiga01.shtml . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Pepperdine Sports Information, ibid.
- ↑ http://www.ovu.edu/base.cfm?page_id=385
- ↑ Ohio Valley University, "OVU School of Biblical Studies Faculty": http://www.ovu.edu/base.cfm?page_id=2629 Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Faye Hardiman, "Baseball, medicine, service converge in Hopkins' life", Christian Chronicles, August, 2001. http://www.christianchronicle.org/article760422~Baseball,_medicine,_service_converge_in_Hopkins%27_life . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
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