Herbert Allen Gorman (December 19, 1924 – April 5, 1953) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 professiona ...

player. He had only one Major League

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 ...

in a single game played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

; then, the following season, he died at age 28 after he was stricken with a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

while he was playing a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

game.

Career

Gorman was Jewish. Born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, he threw and batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

, stood tall, and weighed . His minor league career spanned eleven seasons, from until , with 1944–45 missed during Gorman's military service in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Originally signed by the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

, he began his career 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 ...

and moved to the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

in . In Gorman's one MLB at bat, on April 19, 1952, at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

, he

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

for Cardinals'

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Willard Schmidt and grounded out to second base against Cubs' starter

Turk Lown Omar Joseph "Turk" Lown (May 30, 1924 – July 8, 2016) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of 11 seasons (1951–54, 1956–62) with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. The ...

. He spent the remainder of 1952 with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

of the top-level

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

, batting .261 in 108 games. After returning to the Padres in 1953, he was playing

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

on April 5 in a home game against the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

, his former PCL team. According to accounts of the game, he had hit two

doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

but left the contest when he complained of chest pain during the sixth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

. He died en route to a local hospital from a massive heart attack.

Lefty O'Doul Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues. He was also a vital figure in the establishmen ...

, his manager in San Diego, commented that Gorman "never complained, never caused trouble – he just wanted to play. I wanted to see how some rookies would do, so that's why he was making his first start. But I quickly saw that Gorman should play. A quiet fellow who just minded his own business. It's a terrible loss for his family and our team." He was interred at Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose."Herb Gorman"

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every majo ...

References

External links

Baseball Almanac page
1924 births 1953 deaths 20th-century American Jews Baseball players from San Francisco Hollywood Stars players Jewish American baseball players Jewish American military personnel Johnstown Johnnies players Montreal Royals players Pueblo Dodgers players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Spokane Indians players Sports deaths in California Trois-Rivières Royals players United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II {{US-baseball-bio-stub