Augustin Joseph "Gus" Dugas (March 24, 1907 – April 14, 1997) was a Canadian-born professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played parts of four seasons in

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 ...

(MLB) between 1930 and 1934, with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

, and Washington Senators. Listed at and , he batted and threw left-handed.

Biography

Dugas first played professionally in 1930, with the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

Wichita Aviators The Wichita Aviators were a professional indoor football team that played in the American Professional Football League (APFL). The Aviators played their home games in Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum during the team's first season (200 ...

, a Class A team in the Western League, batting .349 with 203 hits (including 23

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) in 143 games. In September, he made his major league debut, appearing in nine games with the

, batting .290 (9-for-31) with one

run 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 ...

(RBI). In April 1931, before appearing in any games with the Pirates, Dugas collided with

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Ben Sankey Ben Sankey (born December 5, 1976) is a former gridiron football quarterback. He was signed as a street free agent by the Calgary Stampeders in 2000. He played college football at Wake Forest. Sankey also played for the Houston Texans, Hamil ...

during a practice, suffering a broken jaw. After recuperating, Dugas spent the season with the Kansas City Blues, a Double-A team in the American Association, batting .419 with 137 hits in 93 games. Dugas returned to MLB in 1932, playing in 55 games with the Pirates, batting .237 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. In December, he was traded to the

, as part of a four-player deal involving the Pirates, Phillies, and

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 ...

. During 1933, Dugas saw limited action with the Phillies, appeared in 37 games between mid-April and early August; he batted .169 with no home runs and nine RBIs. Defensively, he made the only non-outfield appearances of his major league career, playing 11 games as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. In August, Dugas was sent to the minor league

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of the Senators generally pl ...

of the American Association as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

from an earlier transaction for

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball 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. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Jim McLeod James Bradley McLeod (April 8, 1937 – May 18, 2019) was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. He played 16 games in the National Hockey League with the St. Louis Blues during the 1971–72 season, and 97 games in the World Hockey Association with ...

. With Albany, Dugas batted .379 in 38 games through the end of the season. In 1934, Dugas played for the Washington Senators from mid-April to late June; he appeared in 24 games, almost exclusively as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

. He collected one hit in 19

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s, for an .053 average. He spent the balance of the season with Albany, batting .371 in 57 games. In parts of four major league seasons with three teams, Dugas appeared in 125 games, batting .206 with three home runs and 23 RBIs. Defensively, he accrued a .926

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

in the outfield, and .984 at first base. After 1934, Dugas appeared exclusively in the minor leagues, spending time with the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club ( Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

(1935–1938),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

(1938–1939),

Nashville Vols The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers (regularly shortened to Vols) ...

(1939–1942),

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

(1943), and one post-war season with the

Providence Chiefs The Providence Chiefs, sometimes known as the Cranston Chiefs, were a Rhode Island–based minor league baseball team in the Class B New England League. During 1946 and 1947, the club was known as the Chiefs, and its team logo was a fire chief. I ...

(1946). He appeared in over 1200 minor league games, during which he hit at least 175 home runs (records for the 1938 season are incomplete).

Personal life

Dugas married Doris Buteau in October 1934; the couple settled in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, and had four children. His draft registration card of October 1940 indicated that Dugas became a

naturalized American citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. Dugas was an inaugural member of the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1968, and there is a "Lefty Dugas Drive" around

Dodd Stadium Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Norwich, Connecticut. It is primarily used for baseball, and since 2010, has been the home of the Norwich Sea Unicorns, who were previously known as the Connecticut Tigers. It was the home ...

in Norwich. in April 1977, Dugas was one of seven Quebec-born former MLB players who threw out

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

es before the first

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

home game at

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

. A great-grandchild,

Andrew Carignan Gary Andrew Carignan (born July 23, 1986) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics. Amateur career Born in New London, Connecticut, Carignan attended high school at Norwich Fr ...

, played in MLB in 2011 and 2012. Dugas died in April 1997, two weeks after suffering a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. In reporting his death, some reports referred to Dugas as "the first Canadian-born baseball player in the major leagues"; however, that distinction lies with

Bob Addy Robert Edward Addy (February 1842 – April 9, 1910), nicknamed "the Magnet", was a Canadian right fielder and second baseman in Major League Baseball, whose professional career spanned from in the National Association of Professional Base Ball ...

, who played in the National Association in 1871.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dugas, Gus 1907 births 1997 deaths Baseball people from Quebec Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Canada 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Pittsburgh Pirates players Philadelphia Phillies players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wichita Aviators players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Albany Senators players Montreal Royals players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Nashville Vols players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players