Chubby Dean

Alfred Lovill Dean

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 181 lb.
• School Duke University
• High School Oak Ridge Military Academy
• Debut April 14, 1936
• Final Game September 5, 1943
• Born August 24, 1915 in Mount Airy, NC USA
• Died December 21, 1970 in Riverside, NJ USA

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Biographical Information

Alfred "Chubby" Dean was a major league first baseman and then a major league pitcher. At age 20 in 1936, he appeared in 111 games for the 1936 Athletics, not a single one of which was as a pitcher. In 1937, he was in 104 games, of which only two were as a pitcher. However, after that almost all of his major league games in the field were as a pitcher, although he continued to pinch-hit.

As a pitcher, he did both starting and relieving. In 1939, as mostly a reliever, his 7 saves were third in the league. As a batter, he hit .287 as a rookie, and his best year with the bat was in 1939 when he hit .351 in 88 plate appearances.

He appeared in 162 big league games as a pitcher and 157 as a first baseman. However, he had over 200 games where he did not appear in the field, presumably acting in most of them as a pinch-hitter.

After his playing days he was Director of athletics for the Army at Fort Dix and for the European Command at Nuremberg Germany. His brother served as athletic director at Duke University.

He managed the 1947 Mount Airy Graniteers to a 72-52 record, second in the Blue Ridge League. He was a minor league umpire in 1955.

His obituary said that he was a distant cousin of Dizzy Dean and Paul Dean. This biography says he played at Duke under Jack Coombs. He had been a pitcher and outfielder in college, but the Athletics made him a first baseman instead. He was in the military in 1944-45 and played some service ball under manager Birdie Tebbetts. He died of cancer in 1970.

Related Sites

• Cubby Dean at the SABR Bio project

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