Gil Coan Stats

Gil Coan was born on Thursday, May 18, 1922, in Monroe, North Carolina. Coan was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 27, 1946, with the Washington Senators. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Gil Coan baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Gil Coan was the most promising rookie ever to arrive on the Washington baseball scene! Unfortunately, he was never able to realize the high expectations held for him. Joe Engel, the Senators' chief scout who discovered so many great ballplayers declared, unequivocally, that Coan was the best of them all. To put this high praise in perspective, Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Bucky Harris, Ossie Bluege, Joe Judge, Fred Marberry and Earl McNeely were all dispatched to the Senators on Engel's recommendation and formed the nucleus of the Nats' 1924 and 1925 championship teams." - Willis, C. Norman. Author. Washington Senators All-Time Greats. Xlibris Publishing. 31 August 2011. Page 272.

Gil Coan

Gil Coan Autograph on a 1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#133 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1991top05' title='1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Gil Coan Autograph on a 1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#133 | Checklist)

CareerCollegeAll-StarWild CardDivisionLCSWorld SeriesManagerTradesAwardsVideosCardsmlb   espn
Birth Name:   Gilbert Fitzgerald Coan
Nickname:   Gil
Born On:   05-18-1922  (Taurus)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Monroe, North Carolina
Year of Death Data Died On:   02-04-2020 (500 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Hendersonville, North Carolina
Cemetery:   Gillespie Evergreen Cemetery, Brevard, North Carolina
High School:   Mineral Springs High School (Mineral Springs, NC)
College:   Brevard College (1941)
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-00   Player Weight Chart Weight:   180
First Game:   04-27-1946 (Age 23)
Last Game:   04-25-1956
Draft:   Not Applicable

Gil Coan

Gil Coan Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gil Coan

Gil Coan Hitting Stats

1946 24 Senators 59 134 17 28 3 2 3 0 9 7 0 37 2 0 4 1 .209 .269 .328
1947 25 Senators 11 42 5 21 3 2 0 0 3 5 0 6 0 0 0 0 .500 .553 .667
1948 26 Senators 138 513 56 119 13 9 7 0 60 41 0 78 4 0 7 5 .232 .298 .333
1949 27 Senators 111 358 36 78 7 8 3 0 25 29 1 58 1 0 1 4 .218 .278 .307
1950 28 Senators 104 366 58 111 17 4 7 2 50 28 1 46 5 0 4 1 .303 .359 .429
1951 29 Senators 135 538 85 163 25 7 9 0 62 39 0 62 8 0 6 6 .303 .357 .426
1952 30 Senators 107 332 50 68 11 6 5 0 20 32 2 35 0 0 1 2 .205 .277 .319
1953 31 Senators 68 168 28 33 1 4 2 0 17 22 3 23 2 0 3 3 .196 .301 .286
1954 32 Orioles 94 265 29 74 11 1 2 0 20 16 2 17 3 2 1 1 .279 .320 .351
1955 33 Orioles 61 130 18 31 7 1 1 0 11 13 0 15 2 0 1 2 .238 .313 .331
1955 33 White Sox 17 17 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 .176 .176 .176
1955 33 Giants 9 13 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .154 .154 .154
1956 34 Giants 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
11 Years 918 2,877 384 731 98 44 39 2 278 232 9 384 27 2 28 25 .254 .316 .359

Gil Coan

Gil Coan Fielding Stats

1946 Senators LF 27 26 693 161 6.0 159 159 0 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .988 6.19
1946 Senators RF 2 1 24 3 1.5 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.38
1947 Senators RF 11 11 288 23 2.1 23 22 1 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.16
1948 Senators LF 131 126 3,318 363 2.8 352 341 11 11 3 n/a n/a n/a .970 2.86
1949 Senators CF 29 22 618 76 2.6 75 75 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .987 3.28
1949 Senators LF 66 57 1,512 162 2.5 157 149 8 5 3 n/a n/a n/a .969 2.80
1950 Senators CF 3 3 75 14 4.7 13 10 3 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .929 4.68
1950 Senators LF 95 80 2,226 217 2.3 211 209 2 6 0 n/a n/a n/a .972 2.56
1950 Senators RF 1 0 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1951 Senators LF 132 127 3,405 405 3.1 391 374 17 14 2 n/a n/a n/a .965 3.10
1952 Senators CF 1 1 27 6 6.0 6 6 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 6.00
1952 Senators LF 86 76 2,133 192 2.2 189 185 4 3 1 n/a n/a n/a .984 2.39
1953 Senators LF 45 38 1,047 107 2.4 107 105 2 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.76
1954 Orioles CF 32 31 774 78 2.4 75 75 0 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .962 2.62
1954 Orioles LF 36 33 855 76 2.1 74 73 1 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .974 2.34
1955 Giants CF 2 0 6 1 0.5 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 4.50
1955 Orioles LF 42 28 774 59 1.4 59 54 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.06
1955 White Sox LF 1 0 15 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1955 Giants LF 1 1 27 2 2.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.00
1955 Giants RF 4 0 33 1 0.3 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.82
1955 White Sox RF 2 1 30 2 1.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.80
1955 Orioles RF 1 1 24 2 2.0 1 1 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .500 1.13
LF Totals 662 592 16,005 1,744 2.6 1,701 1,651 50 43 10 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.87
CF Totals 67 57 1,500 175 2.6 170 167 3 5 1 n/a n/a n/a .971 3.06
RF Totals 21 14 404 31 1.5 30 29 1 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .968 2.00
10 Years 750 663 17,909 1,950 2.6 1,901 1,847 54 49 12 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.87

Gil Coan

Gil Coan Miscellaneous Stats

1946 Senators 2 2 .500 25 5 n/a 44.7 3.6 14.9 - - -
1947 Senators 2 1 .667 0 0 n/a 0.0 7.0 14.0 - - -
1948 Senators 23 9 .719 10 2 n/a 73.3 6.6 8.6 - - -
1949 Senators 9 6 .600 14 7 n/a 119.3 6.2 14.3 - - -
1950 Senators 10 5 .667 13 3 n/a 52.3 8.0 7.3 - - -
1951 Senators 8 5 .615 6 1 n/a 59.8 8.7 8.7 - - -
1952 Senators 9 4 .692 17 9 n/a 66.4 9.5 16.6 - - -
1953 Senators 7 0 1.000 24 3 n/a 84.0 7.3 9.9 - - -
1954 Orioles 9 4 .692 27 2 n/a 132.5 15.6 13.3 - - -
1955 Orioles 4 2 .667 18 10 n/a 130.0 8.7 11.8 - - -
1955 White Sox 0 0 .000 11 4 n/a 0.0 3.4 17.0 - - -
1955 Giants 0 0 .000 3 0 n/a 0.0 13.0 0.0 - - -
1956 Giants 0 0 .000 1 3 n/a 0.0 1.0 0.0 - - -
11 Years 83 38 .686 169 49 n/a 73.8 7.5 10.3 - - -

Gil Coan

Gil Coan Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1946 Washington Senators 22 $4,500.00 - -
1947 Washington Senators 22 Undetermined - -
1948 Washington Senators 3 Undetermined - -
1949 Washington Senators 3 Undetermined - -
1950 Washington Senators 30 $13,000.00 - -
1951 Washington Senators 2 $14,950.00 - -
1952 Washington Senators 2 $14,500.00 - -
1953 Washington Senators 2 $13,000.00 - -
1954 Baltimore Orioles 16 Undetermined - -
1955 Baltimore Orioles 16 Undetermined - -
1955 Chicago White Sox 35 Undetermined - -
1955 New York Giants 10 Undetermined - -
1956 New York Giants 28 Undetermined - -

search this site site glossary Print Friendly and PDF

baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Gilbert Fitzgerald Coan was a Major League Baseball player with the Washington Senators (1946-1953), Baltimore Orioles (1954-1955), Chicago White Sox (1955), and New York Giants (1955-1956). When Gil, his nickname, made his big league debut on April 27, 1946, he became the first Mineral Springs High School (Mineral Springs, North Carolina) graduate to reach the majors! Coan told Baseball Almanac (18 May 2002. Happy Birthday Interview. Telephone Discussion.) that the missing thumb story was accurate, saying, "Yeah, it's true. I really did play without a thumb, or most of it anyway. I was a ten, I hurt the joint badly playing football. It really made a loud crack, I remember that the most! (laughing) We kept playing too, but the bone had come loose and my left thumb was basically removed at the middle joint."

GIL COAN ROOKIE CARD

Gil Coan Rookie Card | 1949 Bowman Baseball Card (#90 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Gil Coan, during his sophomore season (1947) became the first Major League player to finish a season with at least forty at-bats and a .500 batting average. A feat matched only once more, by Rudy Pemberton who had forty-one at-bats in 1996, twenty-one hits, and a .512 batting average. Both Coan and Pemberton were American League players. The closest a National League player has come occurred in 2008, when Cameron Maybin had a .500 batting average, but only reached the thirty at-bat plateau (32 at bats / 16 hits) — he is the only NL player with at least 30 at bats and a .500 average.

Gil Coan was traded by the Senators to the Orioles on February 18, 1954, for a former Rookie of the Year. Do you remember who it was? [Answer] When Coan took the field with Baltimore on April 13, 1954 at Briggs Stadium, Gil became the first Oriole to ever wear #16 in a regular season game!

Gil Coan once raced a horse at a minor league game on August 27, 1956, as part of an on-field promotion. The fleet-footed outfielder lost, but had a history of promotional events, including a race against stolen-base champ George Case — best described in Sports Collector's Digest:

Sidebar: A Griffith and Veeck promotion

In listing a PSA 9 1951 Bowman of Coan recently, Goodwin & Co. included the following description of a 1946 event: "A confident rookie, Coan challenged five-time AL stolen base champion George Case to a foot race at Griffith Stadium prior to a game. While Case bested Coan by a step, the promotion was wildly successful and endeared Coan to the Washington fans. Speaking of the race years later, Case recalled, 'It pulled a lot of people into the ballpark, including President Eisenhower.'" In the month prior to the 100-yard race, it was billed as a race to determine "the fastest man in major league baseball."

The Dodgers and Reds added to the pre-event publicity by claiming they had speedier runners than either Case or Coan.

When I asked about the race, Coan had a more accurate description of the events. "I did not challenge (former Senator teammate and track athlete) George Case. Clark Griffith (president of the Senators) and Bill Veeck (president of the Indians) arranged the race. Case and I received $500 each. This was part of a two-day series in Washington with Cleveland. Our race was before the second game. Before the first game, the Army set up a crude machine with Bob Feller throwing six pitches to check the velocity of his fastball. Five pitches were strikes that averaged 98 mph. The sixth pitch hit the machine made primarily of wood and destroyed the machine. All games filled Griffith Stadium, probably the only series sellout of Griffith Stadium, unless it happened during the 1933 World Series."

Feller negotiated $700 for his efforts. Coan's $500 for just 11 seconds of running was an even better deal, but not as good a deal as the return Griffith got on his money. Getting people in the park wasn’t easy. Washington averaged around 10,000 per game in the years Coan played there, and even worse before. Baseball Almanac shows 30,051 came out to see Feller's exhibition before the Aug. 20, 1946, game in which he pitched and lost, and 24,123 came to see the Case/Coan race on Wednesday, Aug. 21. Even when the Senators made the World Series in 1933, their highest series attendance was 28,454. The two Cleveland games with the Feller and Case/Coan promotions contributed to the Senators drawing 1,027,000 fans in 1946, the only year they ever exceeded 1 million.

Veeck's involvement adds to the lore of the Case/Coan race. Later in 1946, Veeck brought in Jesse Owens to challenge Case between games of a doubleheader in Cleveland. Owens, winner of four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics, dressed in a Cleveland uniform and won by at least a yard. Owens' appearance in a Cleveland Indians uniform was a year prior to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Case returned to the Senators for 36 games the next year, hit .150 and retired.

Source of Excerpt: Sports Collectors Digest. Vrecheck, George. 1 October 2013. Full Article.

Gil Coan, Two triples in an Inning

Gil Coan Hits Two Triples in an Inning | The Cumberland Sunday Times | 22 April 1951 | Page 26
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that Gil Coan hit two triples in the sixth inning on April 21, 1951, tying the Major League record for triples in an inning (2), and through today, Coan remains one of only two American League players in history with two triples in an inning (the first player from the junior circuit was Al Zarilla, fourth inning, July 13, 1946)?