Books and articles about Augie Galan

Galan was an injury-prone outfielder who had a good career despite the mishaps. He was the first everyday major leaguer to play an entire season without hitting into a double play, as well as the first to homer from both sides of the plate in the same contest (6/25/37). Having shattered his right elbow playing ball as a child, Galan had a deformed arm. He broke into the majors as a Cub infielder in 1934, and was a star outfielder by the following year, batting .314 and leading the league with 133 runs and 22 stolen bases to help Chicago to the pennant. In 646 at-bats, he did not hit into a single double play, although he did hit into a triple play. In 1936 Galan became the first Cub to homer in the All-Star Game.

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After batting .304 for the Cubs in 1939, he broke his right knee in 1940. The Cubs gave up on Galan and his injuries, dealing him to the Dodgers in 1941. Two years later, he was back in the starting lineup, hitting over .300 each season from 1944 through 1947 before the years caught up with him. From 1945 on, he batted exclusively lefthanded. (ARA)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 25, 1935: Billy Herman cracks a first inning home run off Carl Hubbell and the Cubs score seven runs in the past three innings to beat the 1st-place Giants, 10–5. Herman adds another three hits and Augie Galan has three hits, including two triples. Dick Bartell has four hits for the Giants. Al Smith takes the loss for New York, while Fabian Kowalik pitches the last inning for the win. » September 4, 1935: The 3rd place Cubs get two home runs, including a grand slam, from Augie Galan to beat the Phillies at Wrigley Field. Larry French is the winner, 8–2, for his 13th victory. » September 7, 1935: Bill Lee shuts out the Phils 4–0 for his 16th win of the season, as the Cubs move into 2nd place ahead of the Giants. Augie Galan continues his hitting for the Cubs, driving in two runs. » September 12, 1935: Charlie Grimm's Cubs continue their hot hitting, trouncing the Dodgers 13–3. Augie Galan has four hits and five RBIs for the 'Grimm Reapers.' » September 29, 1935: The Cubs lose 2–1 to the Cardinals. Left fielder Augie Galan plays in his 154th game of the season, ending the year without hitting into a DP, still a major-league record (Reiser does it in 1942, but plays fewer games). Augie did hit into a triple play to open the season. The Cubs lone score comes on Billy Herman's 57th double. » July 7, 1936: The National League, having lost the first three All-Star Games, wins 4–3 at Boston's National League Park with four different Cub players (Galan, Herman, Hartnett, and Demaree) scoring runs. After Dizzy Dean and Carl Hubbell each pitch scoreless 3-inning stints, Curt Davis is hammered by the American League, including Lou Gehrig's home run, but Lon Warneke shuts the door. Meanwhile, the NL is helped by Joe DiMaggio's loose fielding and error and Augie Galan's home run. DiMag is the first rookie to play in an All-Star game. NL plays its starting lineup except for two late-inning pinch hitters. Local favorite and 3-time starter Wally Berger doesn't appear. Missing from the NL roster are Dolph Camilli and Buck Jordan, co-leaders at .348, as well as the eventual batting champ Paul Waner. » July 25, 1936: The Cubs pound out 19 hits to beat the Phils, 17–4, and extend their lead over the Cardinals to three games. Curt Davis is the winner, holding his former teammates to six safeties. Three of the Philley hits come in the 9th when they score three runs on Bashore's single and consecutive homers by Chuck Klein and Dolph Camilli. The Cubs are led by homers from Augie Galan and Ethan Allen as they chase Bucky Walters with four runs in the 3rd, and add another nine off Sy Johnson in three innings. » June 25, 1937: Cubs switch-hitter Augie Galan becomes the first NL player to hit HRs from both sides of the plate in the same game as Chicago beats Brooklyn 11-2. » May 5, 1938: Hal Kelleher of the Phillies faces 16 batters in the 8th inning, as the Cubs score 12 runs. Both marks are National League records off one hurler in a single inning. The Cubs win 21–2 with Joe Marty tallying four runs, four RBI, and four hits and Augie Galan adding a homer and triple and another four ribbies. The loss goes to Wayne LeMaster who throws just three pitches to leadoff batter Stan Hack before leaving the game with a pain in his throwing arm. Tommy Reis relieved and allows four runs to score, but the first is charged to LeMaster. Al Epperly wins the laugher. » July 23, 1943: Outfielders Luis Olmo, Augie Galan, and Stan Bordagaray of the Dodgers account for 18 putouts in a game against Cincinnati. » May 23, 1946: Police sit along the dugouts of both clubs at Ebbets Field after yesterday's brawl but that doesn't stop a pregame fight between the Dodgers Dixie Walker and the Cubs Lenny Merullo. The first place Dodgers again win, 2–1, in 11 innings. The pregame fight will cost five players $650, plus suspensions for Walker, Merullo and Cubs coach Red Smith. Augie Galan gets tossed in the 4th and Leo Durocher in the 9th. » May 25, 1946: The first place Dodgers whip the Phillies, 7–1, for their 14th straight win at Shibe Park. Augie Galan has single, double, and triple and is involved in an unusual "catcher's balk" play. Augie is at bat when Pete Reiser, on 3B, breaks for home on an attempted steal. Phils C Andy Seminick tips Galan's bat on the play and umpire Al Barlick calls the balk. Reiser is awarded a steal of home and Galan gets 1B. The Dodgers will sweep a pair tomorrow at Shibe. » December 4, 1946: The Reds trade pitcher Ed Heusser to Brooklyn for veteran Augie Galan. » May 31, 1948: In Cincinnati, the Reds sweep a Memorial Day doubleheader from the Cards, 4–3 and 7–0. In the nitecap, Ken Raffensberger tosses a one-hitter, allowing just an 8th inning single by Nipsy Jones. Hank Sauer's homer in the opener breaks a tie. The Reds scoring in the nitecap is paced by homers from Augie Galan and Ted Kluszewski. The twin loss drops the Cards to second place as the Giants split a pair with the Dodgers.