Books and articles about Jim Gentile

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Since there was no room for a rookie first baseman on a team that already had Gil Hodges, Diamond Jim (so nicknamed by Roy Campanella, who considered the young lefthanded slugger a diamond in the rough) languished for eight years in the Dodger farm system. Finally traded to Baltimore, in 1961 the temperamental San Francisco native batted .302 with 46 HR and - on only 147 hits - a club record 141 RBI. His five '61 grand slams, including two straight in one game, set an AL record that stood until 1987. (TJ)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » November 1, 1960: Baltimore SS Ron Hansen is voted American League Rookie of the Year, getting 22 of 24 votes. The other two votes go to teammates Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile. » April 30, 1961: Jim Gentile, Gus Triandos, and Ron Hansen hit consecutive home runs in the 7th inning for the Orioles, as they beat Detroit 4–2 to split a twin bill. The O's had one hit in the 1st six innings off Paul Foytack. The Tigers win the opener, 8–2, after going scoreless in six innings against young Steve Barber. » May 9, 1961: Jim Gentile becomes the 3rd player to hit grand slams in consecutive innings (Tony Lazzeri in 1936, Jim Tabor in 1939: Rudy York in 1946 also hit two grand slams, but not in consecutive innings) when he belts one off Pedro Ramos in the first and adds another off Paul Giel in the 2nd. His eight RBI in consecutive innings set a ML record. Gentile also tacks on a sacrifice fly to give him a club record nine RBI in the 13–5 drubbing of the Twins. » July 5, 1961: At Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris cracks a 7th inning solo home run against the Indians, and also is credited—erroneously, as it turns out—with a 3rd inning RBI on a single. The two RBIs are officially recorded, though just one appears in the game's box score, and the error will not be noted until 1995. With the correction, Maris and Jim Gentile become co-leaders in RBIs for the season. » September 22, 1961: Jim Gentile's 5th grand slam of 1961 ties the ML single-season record in Baltimore's 8–6 win over Chicago: Each of his slams comes with Chuck Estrada pitching for the Orioles. Gentile will hit 46 homers this season with a total of 46 runners on base, the most in a season since Babe Ruth hit homers with 48 runners on bases in 1921. Chicago's Floyd Robinson makes the game close with a 9th inning grand slam of his own, the 7th Sox slam of the year. » November 15, 1961: Roger Maris is voted American League MVP with 202 votes to 198 for Mickey Mantle and 157 for Jim Gentile. » August 26, 1962: Robin Roberts, discarded earlier in the year by the Yankees, beats Whitey Ford 2–1 on home runs by Brooks Robinson and Jim Gentile to complete a 5-game Oriole sweep of the sagging Yankees. The Twins and Angels are now three games behind New York. » April 8, 1963: With John F. Kennedy in attendance at the opener in Washington D.C., young Steve Barber starts the season for the O's against the Washington Senators. In the Nats lineup is Barber's high school teammate, Tom Brown, who goes on to football. Jim Gentile and Boog Powell homer for the Birds, who win 3–1. » November 27, 1963: The A's acquire 1B Jim Gentile and $25,000 from the Orioles for 1B Norm Siebern. » June 4, 1965: The A's receive $100,000, P Jesse Hickman, and 2B Ernie Fazio from Houston for 1B Jim Gentile. » September 29, 1987: Don Mattingly hits his ML-record 6th grand slam of the season off Boston's Bruce Hurst in a 6–0 Yankees victory, eclipsing the mark shared by Ernie Banks (1955) and Jim Gentile (1961).