Don Gile

Donald Loren Gile
(Bear)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 220 lb.
• School University of Arizona
• High School San Mateo High School
• Debut September 25, 1959
• Final Game September 30, 1962
• Born April 19, 1935 in Modesto, CA USA
• Died March 5, 2021 in Stillwater, OK USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Don Gile was signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox before the 1955 season. Don spent his first two years in pro ball with the San Jose Red Sox of the class C California League, hitting .328 in 1955 and .265 with 19 home runs in 1956. 1957 found him with the Greensboro Patriots where the tall catcher got into only 51 games but hit .303 along with 11 homers.

Don blossomed out a bit in 1958 with the Allentown Red Sox of the class A Eastern League hitting .274 along with 23 home runs and catching for the All-Star team. This performance opened up Gile's (pronounced Gee-Lee) first of four shots at the major leagues where he had trials at first base and behind the plate for the Boston Red Sox.

One of the tallest catchers in big league history at 6' 6", he hit just .150 in 58 games from 1959 to 1962, and saw most of his playing time in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the AAA Minneapolis Millers and the Seattle Rainiers. On September 30, 1962, two years and two days after Ted Williams homered in his final major league at bat, Don hit the third and last home run of his Red Sox career in what turned out to be his last plate appearance in the majors. It was a walk-off shot off Jack Jenkins that gave Boston a 3-1 win over the Washington Senators. His best season came in 1961 when he hit .278.

Don played nine years in pro ball and closed out his career in 1963 with the Pacific Coast League Seattle and Tacoma clubs. While in the minors he appeared in 657 games, picked up 2,363 at bats with 656 base hits (including 115 home runs) for a .277 batting average and a .469 slugging percentage.

Gile, who attended the University of Arizona, has been a national sales manager for Oral-B Laboratories, and resides in Redwood City, CA.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: Third Edition
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page

Related Sites

• Don Gile at the SABR Bio Project