Gabe Gabler

William Louis Gabler

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• High School St. Louis Central High School
• Debut September 16, 1958
• Final Game September 21, 1958
• Born August 4, 1930 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died January 4, 2014 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Before the 1950 season Gabe Gabler was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent. The 6' 1" nineteen-year-old left-handed-hitting first baseman, was assigned to the Santa Barbara Dodgers of the class C California League where he appeared in both the 1950 and 1951 seasons, hitting .299 with 10 homers in 1950 and .305 with 23 four-baggers in 1951.

The first baseman played in the minors until 1958 before getting his chance in the major leagues. He was with ten different teams in eight different leagues. He was also drafted by the Milwaukee Braves from the Dodgers in the 1955 minor league draft. The Chicago Cubs purchased Gabe from the Braves in 1956 and sent him to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a conditional deal. On June 24th of that year Gabler was returned to the Cubs to complete the transaction.

In 1955 Gabe had a good year with the Pueblo Dodgers of the Western League, hitting .302 with 20 home runs and in 1957 he was second to Harmon Killebrew in the Southern Association home run race, busting out 28 to Harmon's 29. In 1958 he was with the Fort Worth Cats of the AA Texas League, where he made the All-Star team, hitting at a .270 clip with 23 homers when he got his call to bring his bat and glove to Wrigley Field.

Gabe appeared three times as a pinch hitter for the Chicago Cubs at the end of the 1958 season. He struck out in all three at bats. On September 16th, he struck out against Don Erickson, on September 19th, he did so against Ralph Mauriello and on September 21st, it was against Fred Kipp. This completed Gabe's major league career.

It must be said here that Gabler was somewhat more imposing at the plate while with the Fort Worth Cats in a 1954 Texas League game, when he had 10 RBIs with a bases-loaded double, a three-run homer and a grand slam in three at-bats in three successive innings.

Gabler played until 1961 when he completed his pro baseball career with the Macon Peaches of the Southern Association and he went out with a bang, leading the league with 30 round-trippers.

Gabe decided to hang up his spikes after that season; he had been in pro baseball eleven years and despite his bad luck in making the majors, he left some very decent minor league stats. Gabe appeared in 1,388 contests, went to bat 4,553 times, had 1,313 base hits, including 213 home runs, with a .288 batting average and a .453 slugging percentage.

Gabe returned to live in his native St. Louis, MO, where he was employed with the Mercury Welding Service. He passed away there on January 4, 2014.

Sources

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