Fun facts about Phil Gagliano:
-A native of Memphis, TN, Phil signed with the Cardinals at age 18 in 1959.
-His brother Ralph was an infielder in the Indians farm system. He appeared in one game for Cleveland as a pinch runner in 1965. His only card was #501 in the 1965 set, putting him on the same page as Phil in my binder.
-After a ten-game debut with the Cards in 1963, Phil appeared in 40 games the following year, batting .259 in the majors before spending the second half in the minors.
-He saw time at second base, third base, and both corner outfield positions in 1965, appearing in a career-high 122 games and batting .240 with 8 home runs and 53 RBI.
-From 1963-1969, he was reunited with Tim McCarver, a former high school teammate at Christian Brothers High in Memphis.
-Gagliano hit 14 career home runs, and the only pitcher he victimized twice was Hall of Famer Juan Marichal!
-After spending parts of his first eight big league seasons in St. Louis, Phil was traded to the Cubs in mid-1970 and then to the Red Sox a few months later. In 1971, he batted .324 overall in 68 at-bats for Boston, including .364 (8-for-22) with five runs and seven RBI as a pinch hitter.
-He continued his pinch-hitting excellence in 1972 with a .346 average (9-for-26) in those situations, with 10 RBI.
-Switching leagues in 1973, Gagliano went 15-for-41 with 10 walks as a pinch hitter for a .366 average and .490 on-base percentage. Oddly enough, these three seasons were statistical outliers, as he batted only .201 (with a .322 on-base percentage) in 333 career pinch-hit situations.
-The Reds released Phil in October 1974 to bring an end to his career. In parts of 12 seasons he hit .238 with 14 home runs and 159 RBI.
That hotel (?) appears in a couple of Cardinals cards and I'm assuming it's in St. Petersburg where they used to train. I happened to be in St. Pete recently but couldn't identify the building, maybe it's gone.
ReplyDeleteDoug - Thanks for your input! It would be a shame if that building was gone. But as comedian Eddie Izzard says, Americans tear down our history.
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