Grant Lester Dunlap (December 20, 1923 – September 10, 2014) was an American baseball and basketball player and coach. An outfielder, he played professional baseball for 11 seasons, and appeared in 16 major league

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

for the St. Louis Cardinals in . Two years later, he returned to his alma mater,

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

, and began a 30-year tenure that included service such as head baseball coach, men's basketball coach, physical education instructor, and athletic director.

Early life and military service

Born in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

, and nicknamed "Snap", Dunlap's pro baseball career began in 1941 when he was signed at age 17 by 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 ...

. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . It would take Dunlap 12 years to reach the major leagues. After his second pro season, he served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theatre of World War II. He enrolled at Occidental in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, played baseball for the Occidental Tigers in 1944, and gained his degree in 1946.

Baseball career

He then resumed his baseball career in the Cleveland Indians' organization in 1947. Dunlap played for seven different teams for the next six years, but had a breakout season in 1952 as a member of the

Shreveport Sports The Shreveport Sports were a professional Minor League Baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Sports fielded a team from 1925 to 1935, 1938 to 1942, 1946 to 1957, and 1959 to 1961. They were affiliated with the ...

of the Double-A Texas League. He hit .333 to become the Texas League's batting champion and helped lead the Sports to the league's playoff championship. That off-season, his contract was purchased by the Cardinals. In his brief major league career during the opening months of the 1953 season, Dunlap served primarily as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, garnering six hits in 17

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s (.353), including a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

and a home run, the latter hit off Cincinnati's

Ken Raffensberger Kenneth David Raffensberger (August 8, 1917 – November 10, 2002) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1939 through 1954, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1939), Chicago Cubs (1940–41), Philadelphia P ...

on May 10, with three runs batted in. He did play four

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of one game as a right fielder on July 17, but had no

chances Chances may refer to: * ''Chances'' (TV series), an Australian soap opera * ''Chances'' (Philippine TV series), a prime-time soap opera * '' Chances: The Women of Magdalene'', a 2006 documentary film * ''Chances'' (novel), a 1981 novel by Jac ...

in the field. His professional career ended after the 1955 minor-league season.

Occidental College coach

At Occidental College, Dunlap was head baseball coach from 1955 to 1984, where he posted a won–lost record of 510–316 and won nine conference championships. In addition, he served as men's basketball coach for 16 years (with a record of 205–156), athletic director (1971–1976), and physical education instructor. He is a member of the Occidental College Hall of Fame.Occidental College Hall of Fame
/ref> He also is a member of the Stockton Sports Hall of Fame for achievements in both baseball and basketball. Dunlap died in Vista, California at the age of 90.

References

External links

1923 births 2014 deaths Appleton Papermakers players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Stockton, California Basketball coaches from California Birmingham Barons players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Dallas Eagles players Houston Buffaloes players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball right fielders Meridian Peps players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Occidental Tigers athletic directors Occidental Tigers baseball coaches Occidental Tigers baseball players Occidental Tigers men's basketball coaches Oklahoma City Indians players Pacific Tigers baseball players Professional Basketball League of America players Riverside Reds players St. Louis Cardinals players Shreveport Sports players Sportspeople from Carlsbad, California Baseball players from San Diego County, California Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marines {{US-baseball-outfielder-1920s-stub