Joseph Emmett Gallagher (March 7, 1914 – February 25, 1998), nicknamed "Muscles", was an American 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 ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. He played two 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) for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

, and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

between 1939 and 1940."Joe Gallagher Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2017. In 165 games, Gallagher posted a .273

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(133-for-487) with 73 runs, 16

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 73

RBIs 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 ...

. He recorded a .950

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 ...

playing at left and right field. Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, he attended and played ball for the same high school as

Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

, South Park High School in

South Buffalo South Buffalo is a neighborhood that makes up the southern third of the City of Buffalo, New York. Traditionally known for its large Irish-American community, this community also has a strong presence of various other nationalities. The once-he ...

. He was one of the "Four Joes" of the

1939 New York Yankees The 1939 New York Yankees season was the team's 37th season. The team finished with a record of 106–45, winning their 11th pennant, finishing 17 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy (manager), Joe McCarthy. T ...

, along with

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age 48 in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the mo ...

, and

Joe Gordon Joseph Lowell Gordon (February 18, 1915 – April 14, 1978), nicknamed "Flash", in reference to the comic-book character '' Flash Gordon'', was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Y ...

. His major league career ended after missing the entire 1941–1945 seasons due to military service, though he spent a brief time with the minor league

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 ...

in 1946. He later coached collegiately, for both the Stephen F. Austin and

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

baseball teams. He died at age 83 in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Pro career

In 1936, Gallagher was signed by the New York Yankees and assigned to their affiliate in the

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Cities represented The following cities hosted teams th ...

, the Norfolk Tars. Gallagher performed well for the team, which was managed by former major leaguer first baseman

Johnny Neun John Henry Neun (October 28, 1900 – March 28, 1990) was an American professional baseball player and manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1925 to 1931 for the Detroit Tigers and the Bost ...

. That season, Gallagher played in 142 games, and finished the season with 19 home runs and a .348 batting average. Gallagher began to climb his way up the ladder in the Yankees farm system, eventually playing for their Double-A ball club, the Kansas City Blues. At Kansas City, Gallagher continued to show his power at the plate, leading the team with 24 home runs. He hit two more than teammate

Wally Judnich Walter Franklin Judnich (January 24, 1916 – July 10, 1971) was an Americans, American professional baseball player. A center fielder, Judnich played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven seasons with the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians ...

. In 1939, Gallagher made his debut in the major leagues, which made him briefly a teammate of

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was ...

. Gallagher was back-up to outfielder

George Selkirk George Alexander Selkirk (January 4, 1908 – January 19, 1987) was a Canadian outfielder and front office executive in Major League Baseball. In 1935, Selkirk succeeded Babe Ruth as the right fielder of the New York Yankees—and also inher ...

and made his MLB debut April 20, going 0–3 in the Yankees 2–0 win over the Boston Red Sox. On June 13 of his rookie season, the Yankees traded Gallagher to the

for reserve infielder Roy Hughes. While with St. Louis, Gallagher batted .282 and hit nine home runs while appearing in 71 games. The Browns finished the season in last place. On May 27, the Browns traded Gallagher to the Brooklyn Dodgers in exchange for

Roy Cullenbine Roy Joseph Cullenbine (October 18, 1913 – May 28, 1991) was an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Browns, Washi ...

, and infielder/outfield. In 1946, at the age 32, Gallagher appeared in six games for the

, where he was teammates with

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

. After his brief return, Gallagher retired from baseball.

College baseball

Gallagher's playing career was interrupted by service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1941 but, by the time his service had ended, he had gained too much weight to continue playing at the Major League level. After returning to North America and playing minor league baseball briefly, Gallagher graduated from

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

in 1947, graduated from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

in 1950 and attended the

New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University (ILR) is an industrial relations school and one of Cornell University's statutory colleges. The school has five academic departments which include: Labor Economics ...

in 1951. In March 1947, he was hired as the head coach of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks baseball team. He held that job through the 1949 season, after which he resigned to attend the University of Houston and was replaced by Paul Geisler. He was named the head coach of the

Rice Owls baseball The Rice Owls baseball team is the interscholastic baseball team representing Rice University in Houston, Texas, United States. The Owls frequently appeared in the NCAA tournament during the tenure of head coach Wayne Graham, which ran from 199 ...

team prior to the 1962 season.

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Joe 1914 births 1998 deaths Major League Baseball left fielders Brooklyn Dodgers players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Manhattan Jaspers baseball players Rice Owls baseball coaches Baseball players from Buffalo, New York Norfolk Tars players Newark Bears (International League) players Binghamton Triplets players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Montreal Royals players Manhattan Jaspers football players United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Irish descent Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations alumni Stephen F. Austin State University alumni University of Houston alumni Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks baseball coaches