Drew Edward "Buddy" Gilbert (born July 26, 1935) is an American former professional baseball player. An outfielder, he had a brief, seven-game trial with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

of Major League Baseball, collecting three

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 20 at bats. Gilbert batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Playing career

Gilbert attended Knoxville's Central High School and the University of Tennessee. He signed with Cincinnati in 1954 and played eight seasons in the Reds'

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, through 1961. In his best campaign, he batted .282 with 24

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 84 runs batted in for the 1959 Nashville Vols of the Double-A Southern Association. That performance earned his callup to the National League that September. Gilbert appeared in six games in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, and although he registered no outfield assists, he won praise for his strong throwing arm by outgunning future

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

rightfielder Roberto Clemente in a throwing competition.
Burgess, Mark, "Major Memories," ''The Knoxville News'' At the plate, his three hits included solo

against

Jim Umbricht James Umbricht (September 17, 1930 – April 8, 1964) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed relief pitcher, he played Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1959 and 1963 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Colt .45s. Um ...

and Dick Hall of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Retrosheet.org
/ref> in the final two games of his career. He also had one

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and three

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 23

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

. His chances of making the 1960 Reds were diminished when Gilbert became involved in a salary dispute over $200 with Reds' general manager Gabe Paul. He spent the rest of his career in minor league baseball. However, Gilbert made an impact earlier in his career, when as a minor-league teammate of outfielder Curt Flood in the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, he often brought food to Flood on the team bus. Because Flood was an African-American, he was legally prohibited from eating in whites-only, segregated restaurants. Gilbert later said, "Curt Flood mentioned in his autobiography that in all the years he played baseball there was one white boy from Knoxville, Tennessee, that always treated him like a human — Buddy Gilbert. That broke my heart. That’s the nicest compliment I think I have ever had in my lifetime.” After retiring from baseball, Gilbert launched a successful banking and real estate career in Knoxville. He is a member of the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Major League career record
from Baseball Reference
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Buddy 1935 births Living people Baseball players from Knoxville, Tennessee Businesspeople from Tennessee Cincinnati Reds players Douglas Trojans players Indianapolis Indians players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball right fielders Nashville Vols players Ogden Reds players Savannah Redlegs players Seattle Rainiers players