Jim Gentile
| Jim Gentile | |||
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| First baseman | |||
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Born: June 3, 1934 San Francisco, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 10, 1957, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 3, 1966, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .260 | ||
| Home runs | 179 | ||
| Runs batted in | 549 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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James Edward Gentile (born June 3, 1934), also nicknamed "Diamond Jim", is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1957–58); Baltimore Orioles (1960–63), Kansas City Athletics (1964–65), Houston Astros (1965–66) and Cleveland Indians (1966).
Born in San Francisco, Gentile was a powerful, left-handed slugger listed at 6' 4", 215 lb. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a high school pitcher in 1952. He played his first minor league season as a pitcher, earning a 2-6 win-lost record. The next year he was converted into a first baseman. He languished for eight years in the minors for a Dodgers team that already had All-Star Gil Hodges at first base and Norm Larker. He dominated the minors, leading two separate leagues in home runs.
Gentile was traded to Baltimore in 1960, where he was named to the 1960 All-Star Game his first full season. He enjoyed his best season in 1961, hitting a career-highs .302 batting average, 46 home runs, 141 runs batted in(see below), 96 runs, 147 hits, 25 doubles, 96 walks, .423 on-base percentage, .646 slugging average and 1.069 OPS. He finished third in the MVP ballot (behind Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris). In addition, Gentile hit five grand slams — including two straight in one game — setting an American League record that stood until Don Mattingly belted six in 1987.
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