Donald Joseph Gutteridge (June 19, 1912 — September 7, 2008) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
secondSecond base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
and
third basemanA third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball 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...
,
coachIn baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
and
managerIn baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
in
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
who played for the
St. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
,
St. Louis BrownsThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
,
Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
and
Pittsburgh PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
, and later managed the
Chicago White SoxThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
in 1969-1970. He was born in
Pittsburg, KansasPittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...
, and was the first cousin of former MLB
catcherCatcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
Ray MuellerRay Coleman Mueller was an American professional baseball player, a catcher in the Major Leagues from 1935–1944 and 1946–1951. Nicknamed "Iron Man," Mueller appeared as a catcher in every game the Cincinnati Reds played — 155 — during the wartime season...
.
Gutteridge played his first game for the Cardinals at age 24, and in only his second career major league game had six
hitsIn baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
in a doubleheader, including an
inside-the-park home runIn baseball parlance, an inside-the-park home run, "leg home run", or "quadruple", is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of play.-Discussion:...
and two
stealsIn baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
of
home plateHome Plate is the fifth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1975 .-Track listing:#"What Do You Want the Boy to Do?" – 3:19#"Good Enough" – 2:56#"Run Like a Thief" – 3:02...
. He was an average hitter with excellent speed and fielding ability (he turned five
double playIn baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
s in a game in during the Browns' only pennant-winning season). Gutteridge was sold to the Red Sox in , where he played in his only other
World Series-Game 1:Sunday, October 6, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, MissouriThe Red Sox won Game 1 when Rudy York hit a home run into the left field bleachers.-Game 2:Monday, October 7, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St...
. He retired from playing after only two games with the Pirates in .
Gutteridge coached for the White Sox for over a decade (1955–66 and 1968–69), including the pennant-winning team, and in
1969-Expansion:Four expansion teams joined Major League Baseball for this season: the San Diego Padres, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Pilots, and the first MLB team in Canada, the Montreal Expos. To accommodate the additional teams, the two leagues were split into two divisions of East and West...
he succeeded
Al LopezAlfonso Ramon "Al" Lopez was an American catcher and manager in Major League Baseball, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977....
as manager. He led Chicago to a fifth-place finish in the
AL WestThe American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams currently only reside along the west coast and in Texas, historically the...
that season and was fired with 26 games left in the season. He was replaced by interim manager
Bill AdairMarion Danne "Bill" Adair was an American coach and interim manager in Major League Baseball. A second baseman, he was a career minor-league player who never rose about the Class AA level but who spent 21 years as a manager in the minors.-History:Born in Mobile, Alabama, Adair was a skipper in the...
.
Beginning in 2006, every June 19 will be known as Don Gutteridge Day in his hometown of Pittsburg, Kansas.
Gutteridge died on September 7, 2008, in his hometown of Pittsburg after contracting pneumonia. At the time of his death, Gutteridge was the oldest living former manager or coach in Major League Baseball. He was also the last living St. Louis Brown who played in the
1944 World Series-Game 1:Wednesday, October 4, 1944 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, MissouriGeorge McQuinn hit the Brown's only home run of the series to put his team ahead in the fourth inning, while Denny Galehouse outpitched World Series veteran Mort Cooper to hold on for the win.-Game 2:Thursday, October 5,...
—the franchise's only St. Louis Fall Classic.
External links
- Don Gutteridge at Find a Grave
Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...