Al Gerheauser

Albert Gerheauser
(Lefty)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.
• High School Roosevelt High School (St. Louis)
• Debut April 24, 1943
• Final Game October 3, 1948
• Born June 24, 1917 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died May 28, 1972 in Springfield, MO USA

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Biographical Information

Al Gerheauser pitched five seasons in the major leagues, both during and after World War II. Gerheauser began his professional career at age 18 with the Rogers Cardinals, going 6-10 with a 5.04 ERA. The next year, they became the Rogers Lions and he went 12-14 with a 3.58 ERA. In 1937, Al moved to the Joplin Miners and had a 10-11, 3.47 pitching line followed by 9-15, 4.25 the next year. At age 21, he had a record of 14-5 with a 3.46 ERA for the Wenatchee Chiefs. He returned to his habit of spending two years in a city in 1940-1941 when he was with the Kansas City Blues. The first year, he went 5-5 with a 3.22 ERA and then he followed with a 8-11, 3.76 campaign. In 1942, Al moved over to the Newark Bears and his record was 14-12, 3.24. Through 1942, his record in the minors was 76-83.

He was traded by the New York Yankees during spring training of 1943 to the National League team in Philadelphia, called the Philadelphia Blue Jays at the time. He was their Opening Day pitcher, the last pitcher to make his major league debut as a starting pitcher on Opening Day. He was 26 when he broke in to the majors with the Blue Jays and was second in the National League in losses despite a decent ERA+ of 93, as he went 10-19, 3.60.

After a couple of years with Philadelphia, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he spent two years in 1945 and 1946, and then traded to Brooklyn, where he did not appear in the majors, instead pitching for the Montreal Royals in 1947. Working with the first black catcher in the International League's modern history, Roy Campanella, Al went 15-12 with a 3.54 ERA and led the staff in losses for the second-place club. He was then drafted away from the Dodgers by the St. Louis Browns in the 1947 Rule V Draft. He went 4-7 with a 3.28 for the Toledo Mud Hens that year and finished his major league career by going 0-3 with a 7.33 ERA for the Browns in 1948.

Although his major league win/loss record was 25-50, his ERA's were mostly not terrible and his career ERA+ was 88. In four of the five years he was in the majors, his teams lost 90+ games, while in the other year (1946), he went 2-2.

In 1949, Al went 14-13 with a 4.33 ERA for the San Antonio Missions. The Seattle Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League drafted him from the Browns after the 1949 season and he was 10-10 with a 4.39 ERA for Seattle in 1950. In 1951, Gerheauser had a ledger of 16-15, 4.71 for the Oklahoma City Indians and he was 8-8 with a 4.20 ERA for the same club in 1952. In his 19th and last professional season, Al was 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA for Oklahoma City and the Houston Buffaloes and 1-5 with a 4.32 ERA for the Texarkana Bears. His career minor league record was 144-154 and his record as a professional baseball pitcher overall was 169-204.

Sources include Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database

Notable Achievements

• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (1943)

Related Sites

• Al Gerheauser at the SABR Bio Project