Alexander Nathaniel Gaston (March 12, 1893 – February 8, 1979) was an American

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played between and for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1920–1923) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1926, 1929). Listed at , 170 lb., Gaston batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. He was born in New York City. His younger brother,

Milt Gaston Nathaniel Milton Gaston (January 27, 1896 – April 26, 1996) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1924 to 1934. Born in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, he played for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Washington ...

, was a major league

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. Gaston grew up in

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the village's population was 13,224, an increase of 495 (+3.9%) from the 2010 census count of 12,729, which in turn reflected ...

and attended

Ridgefield Park High School Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School is a six-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Ridgefield Park, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the ...

.Nowlin, Bill
Alex Gaston

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and statistical record of baseball. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on Au ...

. Accessed November 29, 2017. "The family lived most of the time in New Jersey, though Alex said he attended elementary school in New York City. His high school was Ridgefield Park in New Jersey, the community where Milt was born." In a six-season career, Gaston was a .218 hitter (112-for-514) with three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 40

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

in 215

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, including 58 runs, 13 doubles, six

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, and five

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions 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 out ...

s. Although the New York Giants won the World Series in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, Gaston did not see postseason action in either year. Alex Gaston was a batterymate of his brother

with the 1929 Boston Red Sox. Gaston died in

Marina del Rey, California Marina del Rey ( Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The eponymous harbor is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles ar ...

at age 85.

References

External links

1893 births 1979 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from New York City New York Giants (baseball) players Boston Red Sox players Minor league baseball managers People from Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park High School alumni Baseball players from Bergen County, New Jersey Fitchburg Burghers players Portland Duffs players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-catcher-1890s-stub