Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American professional baseball player and manager. Though he spent eleven seasons in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
, most notably for the
New York Giants and
Philadelphia Phillies, he is best known for his career in the
Pacific Coast League, where he was a star player and a successful manager. His .349 career batting average is the sixth highest in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Born in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, O'Doul began his professional career as a left-handed
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
with the minor-league
San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. He served in the United States Navy from 1917-1919. His final duty station was Mare Island, and according to his obituary in the ''San Francisco Examiner'', he separated from the Navy as a Seaman First Class (E-3).
He had some major-league success with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
from 1919 to 1923 as a relief pitcher. After developing a sore arm which forced him to give up pitching, he returned to the Pacific Coast League and transitioned into becoming a power-hitting
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 catch ...
. He returned to the majors in 1928, playing for the New York Giants. With the Philadelphia Phillies and the
Brooklyn Robins, he won two batting titles. Traded back to the Giants in 1933, O'Doul became a
World Series champion.
After his career ended, O'Doul returned to the Pacific Coast League, managing the
San Francisco Seals from 1935 to 1951, as well as other Pacific Coast teams. What is considered by many to be his greatest contributions to baseball were the exhibition tours he undertook to Japan during which he helped with the training Japanese baseball players both before and after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, contributed to the popularity and success of
professional baseball in Japan. For his efforts, O'Doul became the first American elected to the
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. O'Doul and
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...
went to Japan with their wives.
Long after his death in 1969, O'Doul remains one of the most popular figures in his hometown of
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. He was elected to the
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the
Lefty O'Doul Bridge, connecting the
China Basin and
Mission Bay neighborhoods, was named in his honor. The gate entrance of
Oracle Park adjacent to the bridge was named the "Lefty O'Doul Gate" by the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
.
Professional career
Player
O'Doul began his professional career as a left-handed
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
with the minor-league
San Francisco Seals of the
Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He had some major-league success with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
from to as a reliever. He pitched for the Red Sox in one notable game at Cleveland on July 7, 1923, that would go down in the record books. Relieving for starter
Curt Fullerton, O'Doul gave up 16 runs over 3 innings of relief, with 14 of those runs coming in the 6th inning alone. Although errors committed by Red Sox fielders meant that only 3 of the 16 runs were earned, O'Doul set the major league record for most runs allowed by a reliever in one appearance, a record later equaled by
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher
Johnny Stuart in 1925 and
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher
Dutch Schesler in 1931 (although both needed 8 innings to allow 16 runs). Following the season, O'Doul developed a sore arm, which forced him to give up pitching.
After the 1923 season, the
New York Giants returned O'Doul to the
Pacific Coast League, where he was converted to a power-hitting
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 catch ...
. In 1927, he became the second of only four Pacific Coast League hitters to have hit 30 home runs and stolen 30 bases in a season (with the other three being
Tony Lazzeri (1925),
Frank Demaree (1934), and
Joc Pederson (2014)).
O'Doul returned to the majors in 1928, where he batted .319 as a
platoon player. In , he was traded to the
Philadelphia Phillies and, teaming up with
Chuck Klein, had one of the best offensive years in baseball history, leading the league in
batting at .398 with 254
hits, 32
home runs, 122
runs batted in
A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...
, and 152
runs scored
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...
. His hit total broke the previous National League record of 250 by
Rogers Hornsby of the
1922 St. Louis Cardinals. The record was tied by
Bill Terry in .
After batting .383 with 22 homers during the 1930 season, O'Doul was traded to the
Brooklyn Robins (now the Los Angeles Dodgers). In , he batted .368 for Brooklyn to win another league batting title. After a slow start in , when he batted just .252 through 43 games, O'Doul was again traded, this time back to the Giants. He rallied to hit .306 the rest of the way that season, but played just one more year before ending his career in .
In an 11-year major league career, he
played in 970 games, 34 as a relief pitcher and the rest as an outfielder, posting a .349
batting average with 624
runs scored
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...
, 175
double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
s, 41
triples, 113
home runs, and 542
runs batted in
A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...
. His
on-base percentage was .413 and
slugging percentage was .532. In seven seasons between 1928 and 1934, when he became a regular outfielder, he hit .353. O'Doul hit over .300 six times, missing only in 1933 when he hit .284 playing with the Dodgers and Giants. He had 200+ hit seasons in 1929, 1930 and 1932. He had 6 five-hit games between 1929 and 1933, recording two each in 1929 and 1930 with the Phillies and one each in 1931 and 1933 with the Dodgers.
As a
pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) 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, A ...
, he batted .303 (36-for-119) with 4 home runs and 36 RBI in his MLB career. In 1934, he had 21 RBI in a pinch hitting role in his final season in the majors.
Manager
O'Doul then returned to the Pacific Coast League as manager of the San Francisco Seals from to , later managing several other teams in the circuit and becoming the most successful manager in PCL history. One of his outstanding accomplishments while managing the Seals was developing the young
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...
, who went on to a
Hall of Fame career with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
. O'Doul refused to take credit for DiMaggio's success, saying, "I was just smart enough to leave
imalone."
In addition to the Seals, O'Doul also managed 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
(1952–1954), the
Oakland Oaks, the
Vancouver Mounties (1956), and the
Seattle Rainiers
The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 1968. They were prev ...
(1957). He also made his final appearance as a player with Vancouver, appearing in one game.
Legacy
O'Doul was instrumental in spreading baseball's popularity in Japan, serving as the sport's goodwill ambassador before and after World War II. The
Tokyo Giants, sometimes considered "Japan's Baseball Team", was named by him in 1935 in honor of his longtime association with the New York Giants; the logo and uniform of the Giants in Japan strongly resemble their North American counterparts.
O'Doul was inducted into the San Francisco
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also in the
Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. O’Doul was inducted into the
Baseball Reliquary
The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit educational organization "dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled creative possibiliti ...
's
Shrine of the Eternals in 2013.
["Shrine of the Eternals – Inductees"](_blank)
Baseball Reliquary. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
O'Doul's fame and popularity live on in his hometown of San Francisco and are enhanced by the fact that his former team now thrives as the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
. The popular
hofbrau-style restaurant and bar he founded in 1958 operated for years after his death as Lefty O'Doul's Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge on
Geary Street, still serving his original recipe for
Bloody Mary #REDIRECT Bloody Mary
{{redirect category shell, {{R ambig{{R from other capitalisation{{R unprintworthy ...
(although one news account says it was modified in the 1960s by O'Doul's bartender Chuck Davis). However, a landlord-tenant dispute caused the restaurant to close its doors in early 2017. In November 2018, the restaurant reopened in a new location at
Fisherman's Wharf. However, the new location closed in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and the owner's bankruptcy following a federal indictment on corruption charges.
A bridge over
McCovey Cove, near the Giants' home field of
Oracle Park, is named the
Lefty O'Doul Bridge in his honor.
Accordingly, the ballpark plaza and gate entrance adjacent to the bridge are also named after O'Doul.
Besides the ineligible
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 20th century. His .356 career batting average ...
, O'Doul has the highest career batting average of any player eligible for the
National 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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...
who is not enshrined. Further, O’Doul has the highest career
OPS of any player eligible for the Hall of Fame who is not enshrined aside from players kept out due to their association with steroids (
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...
,
Manny Ramirez
Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played wit ...
,
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...
).
On November 5, 2021, he was selected to the final ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame's Early Days Committee for consideration in the
Class of 2022. He received five of the necessary twelve votes.
["Fowler, Hodges, Kaat, Miñoso, Oliva, O'Neil Elected to Hall of Fame"](_blank)
baseballhall.org. December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
In baseball, batting average (baseball), batting average (AVG) is a measure of a Batting (baseball), batter's success rate in achieving a Hit (baseball), hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders
In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three decimal places and pronounced as if it were multiplied by 1,000: a player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three h ...
*
References
Further reading
* Leutzinger, Richard. ''Lefty O’Doul, the Legend That Baseball Nearly Forgot: The Story of the Hall of Fame's Missing Star''. Carmel, California: Carmel Bay Publishing Group, 1997. .
* Dobbins, Dick; Twichell, Jon (editor: Rochmis, Jon). ''Nuggets on the Diamond, Professional Baseball in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present''. San Francisco, California: Woodford Press, 1994. ; .
* Snelling, Dennis. ''Lefty O'Doul: Baseball's Forgotten Ambassador''. University of Nebraska Press, 2017. ;
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odoul, Lefty
1897 births
1969 deaths
American expatriate baseball people in Canada
American expatriate baseball people in Japan
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
Baseball developers
Baseball players from San Francisco
Boston Red Sox players
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Brooklyn Robins players
Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park
Des Moines Boosters players
Hollywood Stars players
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Major League Baseball left fielders
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
National League All-Stars
National League batting champions
New York Giants (baseball) players
New York Yankees players
Oakland Oaks (baseball) managers
Pacific Coast League MVP award winners
Philadelphia Phillies players
Salt Lake City Bees players
San Francisco Giants coaches
San Francisco Seals (baseball) managers
San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
Seattle Rainiers managers
Vancouver Mounties managers