Allen Lee "Zeke" Zarilla (May 1, 1919 – August 28, 1996) was an American professional baseball player,

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and

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. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from to , most notably as a member of the only St. Louis Browns team to win an

American League pennant Each Major League Baseball (MLB) season, one American League (AL) team wins the pennant, signifying that they are the league's champion and have the right to play in the World Series against the champion of the National League (NL). The pennant ...

in . He also played for the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox, primarily as a right fielder. Zarilla batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and .

Baseball career

Zarilla was born in Los Angeles, California. A solid outfielder with a strong arm and basically a line-drive hitter, Zarilla started his major league career in 1943 with the St. Louis Browns. In 1944 he hit .299 in 100 games, scoring and driving in a run in Game Three of the World Series. After that, he served in the military, returning to the major leagues in 1946. Zarilla had his most productive season in 1948, when he posted career-highs in average (.329, fourth in the American League),

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(174), home runs (12), doubles (39),

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s (11) and games (144), while scoring 77 runs with 74 RBI and made his only appearance in the All-Star Game. By 1949, Zarilla was the lone member of the pennant-winning 1944 Browns still on the roster. That year, the team sent Zarilla to the Boston Red Sox. He hit .281 in 124 games for his new team, and enjoyed another fine season in 1950 with a .325 average (fifth in AL), joining Dom DiMaggio (.328) and Ted Williams (.317) in the Boston all-.300 outfield. He also collected career-highs in

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

(.493), runs (92) and walks (76), and tied a major league record with four doubles in a game (June 8). On December 10, 1950, Zarilla was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Joe Dobson and Dick Littlefield to the Chicago White Sox for

Bill Wight William Robert Wight (April 12, 1922 – May 17, 2007) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball ( MLB) who played from through for the New York Yankees (1946–47), Chicago White Sox (1948–50), Boston Red Sox (1951–52), Detro ...

and Ray Scarborough. Zarilla and Gus Zernial teamed up in April 1951 to become the only players whose last names started with "Z" to play together in the same outfield. Zarilla and Zernial played right and left field, respectively, as part of a White Sox outfield unit in four games. At the end of April, Zernial was traded to the Philadelphia A's. In 1952, Zarilla divided his playing time between the White Sox, Browns and Red Sox. He played his final major league game at the age of 34 with Boston in the 1953 season. Zarilla is also remembered for a call by Dizzy Dean, the former Cardinals pitching ace turned Browns broadcaster, who saw him slide into third base, and yelled, "Zarilla slud into third!" In a ten-season MLB career, Zarilla posted a .276 batting average with 61 home runs and 456

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in 1120

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. He posted a career .974

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

at all three outfield positions. Zarilla

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for multiple MLB teams after his playing career, and spent one season, , on the coaching staff of his old teammate Ted Williams, then the manager of the Washington Senators. He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 77.

References

External links

Al Zarilla
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Baseball AlmanacAl Zarilla
- Baseball Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarilla, Al 1919 births 1996 deaths American League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Los Angeles Batesville White Sox players Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds scouts Helena Seaporters players Hollywood Stars players Kansas City Athletics scouts Lafayette White Sox players Magic Valley Cowboys players Major League Baseball right fielders Montreal Expos scouts Oakland Athletics scouts St. Louis Browns players San Antonio Missions players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Springfield Browns players Texas Rangers scouts Toledo Mud Hens players Washington Senators (1961–1971) coaches Jefferson High School (Los Angeles) alumni