George Jeffcoat

George Edward Jeffcoat

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 175 lb.
• School University of South Carolina
• High School Brookland-Cayce High School
• Debut April 20, 1936
• Final Game June 20, 1943
• Born December 24, 1913 in New Brookland, SC USA
• Died October 13, 1978 in Leesville, SC USA

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Biographical Information

George Jeffcoat played four seasons in the majors. He was with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1936, 1937, and 1939, and then came back in 1943, a war year, to pitch with the Boston Braves. Lifetime, he had a record of 7-11 in 70 appearances.

He came up in 1936 at the age of 22 when the Dodgers had an older staff. With an average age of nearly 29 on the staff, George Earnshaw was 36, Watty Clark was 34, Fred Frankhouse was 32, and Ed Brandt was 31. George appeared in 40 games, the third most on the squad. The manager was Casey Stengel.

His ERA dropped in 1937, as the Dodger pitching staff got even older, with an average age of nearly 30. Luke Hamlin, age 32, joined the squad, as did Waite Hoyt, age 37, and Freddie Fitzsimmons, age 35. The only pitcher on the Dodgers younger than Jeffcoat was Harry Eisenstat, who was 21 at the time. The manager was Burleigh Grimes.

Jeffcoat was gone from the Dodgers in 1938, but came back in 1939 to pitch two shutout innings. The Dodgers had improved as a team, and had a different manager (Leo Durocher), but the pitching staff was even older, with an average age of 30 1/2. Jeffcoat was still only 25.

Jeffcoat, pitching for Nashville in the Southern Association in 1940, struck out 7 consecutive Chattanooga batters and set a league record of 18 strikeouts in a playoff game. He stayed with Nashville in 1941, and in 1942 had a record of 13-12.

He came back for 17 games with the wartime 1943 Boston Braves, pitching 17 2/3 innings. His 3.06 ERA was pretty good, but apparently didn't get much attention on a staff that had an ERA of 3.25. Casey Stengel, his manager from 1936, also managed the Braves most of the season, and may have had a role in bringing Jeffcoat back to the majors.

He is the older brother of Hal Jeffcoat, the outfielder/pitcher primarily with the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. George was finished with the major leagues by the time Hal started. They both apparently wore # 42 for some or all of their time in the majors. His brothers William and Charles were minor league pitchers, and his nephew Harold Jeffcoat pitched in the minors.

Related Sites

• George Jeffcoat at the SABR Bio Project