Gil English

Gilbert Raymond English

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• Debut September 20, 1931
• Final Game June 11, 1944
• Born July 2, 1909 in Glenola, NC USA
• Died August 31, 1996 in Trinity, NC USA

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Biographical Information

Gil English played six seasons in the big leagues spaced far apart. He came up in 1931-32 the first time, then returned in 1936-38, and came back one last time in 1944.

In the minors prior to coming to the major leagues, he was with Durham in 1930 (.282, 11 HR, 73 RBI) and most of 1931 (.344, 19 HR, 106 RBI).

Primarily a third baseman, he was one of the youngest players in the National League when he broke in with the 1931 New York Giants. It was John McGraw's last full year as Giants manager, Bill Terry played first base, and Mel Ott, who at age 22 was a year older than English, was already in his sixth year with the Giants.

After backing up Johnny Vergez at third base in 1931-32, English did not appear in the majors in 1933 and the Giants traded him in December 1933 to Portland where he was still playing in 1935.

He was with the Toledo Mud Hens for part of 1936.

He came back to the majors with the 1936 Detroit Tigers, a team which featured Hall of Famers Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, Goose Goslin, and Al Simmons. English backed up Marv Owen in 1936-37 before the 1937 Boston Bees took him off waivers in mid-1937. He became the regular third baseman during the second half of the season for the Bees, hitting .290, which was the highest batting average on the entire team.

In 1938 he dropped to .248 on a team that hit .250, while Joe Stripp and Debs Garms appeared in more games at third than he did. The manager was Casey Stengel.

After the 1938 season, he and Vince DiMaggio were traded to the New York Yankees. Neither of them ever appeared in the majors with the Yankees.

In 1939 English was in the American Association, winning the MVP award.

English came back to the majors in 1944 with the 1944 Brooklyn Dodgers, where he backed up third baseman Frenchy Bordagaray and shortstop Bobby Bragan.

After his playing days, Gil English scouted for the Boston Braves.

Of the three major leaguers with the last name English (through 2007), Gil was the second to come to the majors. Woody English broke in during the 1927 season, while Charlie English came up in 1932.