Gerald Michael Scala (September 27, 1924 – December 14, 1993) was a
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) ...
outfielder who played from 1948 to 1950 for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
.
Originally signed by the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
in 1942, Scala was sent from the Yankees to the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
in an unknown transaction before the 1946 season. Before the 1947 season, he was acquired by the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
.
After a successful minor league season in 1947 in which he led the
Three-I League in both hits (163) and runs (116) while playing for the
Waterloo White Hawks, he was on a fast track to the big leagues. On April 22, 1948, he made his big league debut. In three games for the White Sox that season, he collected no hits in six at-bats. He played in 37 games in 1949, hitting .250 with one home run and 13 RBI in 120 at-bats. On June 2 of that year, he was involved in an interesting trade between the minor league team the
Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically:
* Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955
*Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey t ...
and the White Sox. Excerpted from
Baseball-Reference.com: ''"Traded by the Chicago White Sox with a player to be named later and cash to the Oakland (PCL) for a player to be named later and
Catfish Metkovich
George Michael "Catfish" Metkovich (October 8, 1920 — May 17, 1995) was an American outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (1943–46), Cleveland Indians (1947), Chicago White Sox (1949), Pittsburgh Pira ...
. The Oakland (PCL) sent Jerry Scala (June 11, 1949) to the Chicago White Sox to complete the trade. The Chicago White Sox sent
Earl Rapp
Earl Wellington Rapp (May 20, 1921 – February 13, 1992) was an American professional baseball outfielder and scout. In Major League Baseball, he played in and from to for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, New York Giants, St. Louis ...
(June 11, 1949) to the Oakland (PCL) to complete the trade."''
Scala played his final big league season in 1950. In 67 at-bats, he hit .194. His final game was September 26.
Overall, he hit .223 with one home run and 19 RBI in 80 big league games. In 193 at-bats, he had 26 runs, 43 hits, nine doubles and two triples. He also had three stolen bases, 27 walks and 32 strikeouts.
After he died, he was buried in
Lorraine Park Cemetery in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
.
References
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scala, Jerry
1924 births
1993 deaths
Major League Baseball outfielders
Chicago White Sox players
Baseball players from New Jersey
Sportspeople from Bayonne, New Jersey