Herb Gorman

Herbert Allen Gorman

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Balboa High School (San Francisco)
• Debut April 19, 1952
• Final Game April 19, 1952
• Born December 18, 1924 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died April 5, 1953 in San Diego, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Herb Gorman died at age 28.

Gorman played one game for the 1943 Montreal Royals then entered the Coast Guard, where he served during World War II. In 1946, he played for the Trois-Rivières Royals, hitting .310/~.417/.478 as the first baseman; he also batted .286/~.359/.471 in 19 games that year for the Johnstown Johnnies.

Gorman hit .351 and slugged .516 for the 1947 Spokane Indians. He led the Western International League with 138 RBI, tied for second in average and tied for second with 46 doubles. That earned him a promotion to the Pueblo Dodgers in 1948. He blasted 20 homers, 45 doubles and 7 triples, hitting .341 and slugging .576. He led the Western League in fielding at first base (.985), was second to Red Treadway in average, was third in the league in RBI (103), was second in hits (172, one behind Bob Wellman), led in doubles, led in total bases (291), was 4th in runs (113, 6 behind leader George Genovese) and was third in walks (96). He made the league All-Star team as the first baseman.

Herb became the right fielder for the Hollywood Stars in 1949 and hit .310/.392/.472 with 41 doubles and 110 RBI. He tied for third in the Pacific Coast League in doubles and was 6th in RBI to help his team win the title. In 1950, Gorman batted .305/~.380/.470 for Hollywood with 39 doubles and 96 RBI. Still only 25 years old, he would fade further in future seasons.

Gorman hit .275/~.367/.443 for Hollywood in 1951, now splitting time with Dino Restelli. Herb drove home 53 runs in 80 games that season. Gorman appeared for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs on April 19, 1952, pinch-hitting for Willard Schmidt in the 7th inning and grounding out. It was his only game in the majors.

Gorman spent the rest of 1952 with the San Diego Padres, hitting .261/~.326/.389 in 108 games. In 1953, he started strong, going 3 for 4 with two doubles for San Diego. Unfortunately, in his fourth game, on April 5th, he collapsed on the field. When he came out of the game, Gorman thought it was cramps from some sausages he had eaten. It turned out to be a massive heart attack, one that claimed his life before the day was out.

He is one of two major leaguers born in 1924 in San Francisco, CA, with the other being Charlie Silvera.

Sources

• The Big Book of Jewish Baseball by Peter Horvitz and Joachim Horvitz
• 1949 and 1951 PCL seasons for Diamond Mind Baseball by Stephen Davis
• The Western League by W.C. Madden and Patrick Stewart
• 1947, 1951 and 1953 Baseball Guides
• SABR Database