Augustin Joseph "Gus" Dugas (March 24, 1907 – April 14, 1997) was a Canadian-born

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. He played parts of four seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) between 1930 and 1934, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Senators. Listed at and , he batted and threw left-handed.

Biography

Dugas first played professionally in 1930, with the minor league

Wichita Aviators The Wichita Aviators were a professional indoor football team that played in the American Professional Football League (APFL). The Aviators played their home games in Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum during the team's first season (20 ...

, a Class A team in the Western League,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.349 with 203 hits (including 23

home run 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 ...

s) in 143 games. In September, he made his major league debut, appearing in nine games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .290 (9-for-31) with one

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI). In April 1931, before appearing in any games with the Pirates, Dugas collided with

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Ben Sankey during a practice, suffering a broken jaw. After recuperating, Dugas spent the season with the Kansas City Blues, a Double-A team in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, batting .419 with 137 hits in 93 games. Dugas returned to MLB in 1932, playing in 55 games with the Pirates, batting .237 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. In December, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, as part of a four-player deal involving the Pirates, Phillies, and New York Giants. During 1933, Dugas saw limited action with the Phillies, appeared in 37 games between mid-April and early August; he batted .169 with no home runs and nine RBIs. Defensively, he made the only non-outfield appearances of his major league career, playing 11 games as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. In August, Dugas was sent to the minor league Albany Senators of the American Association as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

from an earlier transaction for

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Jim McLeod. With Albany, Dugas batted .379 in 38 games through the end of the season. In 1934, Dugas played for the Washington Senators from mid-April to late June; he appeared in 24 games, almost exclusively as a pinch hitter. He collected one hit in 19 at bats, for an .053 average. He spent the balance of the season with Albany, batting .371 in 57 games. In parts of four major league seasons with three teams, Dugas appeared in 125 games, batting .206 with three home runs and 23 RBIs. Defensively, he accrued a .926 fielding percentage in the outfield, and .984 at first base. After 1934, Dugas appeared exclusively in the minor leagues, spending time with the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...

(1935–1938),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1938–1939),

Nashville Vols The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

(1939–1942),

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

(1943), and one post-war season with the

Providence Chiefs The Providence Chiefs, sometimes known as the Cranston Chiefs, were a Rhode Island-based minor league baseball team in the Class B New England League. During 1946 and 1947, the club was known as the Chiefs, and its team logo was a fire chief. In ...

(1946). He appeared in over 1200 minor league games, during which he hit at least 175 home runs (records for the 1938 season are incomplete).

Personal life

Dugas married Doris Buteau in October 1934; the couple settled in Norwich, Connecticut, and had four children. His draft registration card of October 1940 indicated that Dugas became a

naturalized American citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

. Dugas was an inaugural member of the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1968, and there is a "Lefty Dugas Drive" around Dodd Stadium in Norwich. in April 1977, Dugas was one of seven Quebec-born former MLB players who threw out

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

es before the first

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

home game at

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. A great-grandchild,

Andrew Carignan Gary Andrew Carignan (born July 23, 1986) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics. Amateur career Born in New London, Connecticut, Carignan attended high school at Norwich Free Acad ...

, played in MLB in 2011 and 2012. Dugas died in April 1997, two weeks after suffering a stroke. In reporting his death, some reports referred to Dugas as "the first Canadian-born baseball player in the major leagues"; however, that distinction lies with

Bob Addy Robert Edward Addy (February 1842 – April 9, 1910), nicknamed "The Magnet", was a Canadian right fielder and second baseman in Major League Baseball, whose professional career spanned from in the National Association to in the National Leag ...

, who played in the National Association in 1871.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dugas, Gus 1907 births 1997 deaths Baseball people from Quebec Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Canada Pittsburgh Pirates players Philadelphia Phillies players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wichita Aviators players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Albany Senators players Montreal Royals players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Nashville Vols players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players