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We’re Contacted by Acquaintance of 1960s Slugger, Jim Gentile!

As I’ve mentioned many times, we always enjoy it when we’re contacted by a relative or a friend of a former ballplayer. It doesn’t make any difference if the player was a sub or a star. Anyone who makes it to the Big Show is special in our eyes.

Let’s face it, most of us view former major leaguers with a certain fondness bordering on awe. They’ve achieved something most can only dream about.

They’ve made it big. So whenever one of us “mere mortals” is fortunate enough to befriend a former player—especially one we idolized in our youth—it’s something very special.

Such is the case with today’s essay. I recently had email exchanges with one of our readers, Everett Shockley. In recent years, Everett became friends with the Orioles’ powerful left-handed slugger, Jim Gentile. Everett was kind enough to share with

me some interesting information from his correspondence with Jim, who falls into the nebulous category of “very good, but not Hall-of-Fame level” ballplayers. He’s also a good candidate for my ongoing series of “Forgotten Stars,” where I like to shine our baseball spotlight on fine players whose careers have been overlooked over the passage of time.

Jim Gentile’s Outstanding Major League Career

Jim played nine seasons (1957-1966) in the majors as a first baseman for six

different teams. Over his career, the 6’4”, 215-pound San Francisco native hit .260, with 179 home runs, 549 RBIs, a .368 on-base percentage, and a .486 slugging average. A six-time all-star, his outstanding career 136+ mark places him well above the average of his major league contemporaries.

Jim was originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers back in 1952. In spite of some outstanding minor league seasons, including leading two different leagues in home runs, he languished in the Dodgers’ system for eight years due to the fact that a pretty good ballplayer was solidly entrenched at first base. His name was Gil Hodges. Jim finally got the call to the “Bigs” and made his major league debut on September 10, 1957. Two weeks later, he was the starting first baseman on September 24, the Dodgers’ last game at Ebbets Field.  

“Diamond Jim”—a nickname given to him by Roy Campanella—is best remembered for his years with the Orioles from 1960-1963. His best season was 1961, when he hit .302, with 96 runs, 46 home runs, a lead-leading 141 RBIs, a .423 on-base percentage, a .646 slugging average, and an outstanding 187 OPS+, all career highs. He finished third that year in MVP voting behind Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Probably the most memorable moment of his career came on May 9, 1961, when Jim became one of only thirteen players to hit two grand slams in the same game.

Everett Shockley grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where, as he recalls, “everyone, without exception was an Oriole fan.” Everett’s hero as a young boy just happened to be Jim Gentile. Back in January 2019, Everett attended “Orioles Dream Week” hoping to meet Jim Gentile who, along with other past Oriole stars, was slated to attend. Prior to the event, Everett had spoken with the event organizer who was aware of how much Everett wanted to meet Jim Gentile:

When we got there, he pulled me aside and told me that Gentile wasn’t coming. He knew I was really disappointed, so when he got back to Baltimore, he called Gentile and told him the situation.  He told me that Gentile said to send him a picture and he’d be happy to autograph it. So I did.

A few weeks later when I returned to my office one afternoon, I checked my phone messages and one said, “Mr. Shockley, this is Jim Gentile.  Please give me a call when you can.”  I just sat there for 2-3 minutes with my mouth hanging open!  So, I called and he answered. He told me that he had misplaced my picture and wanted to know where I bought it. I told him not to worry about it and that I wasn’t going to have him pay for the picture. His wife later hollered out that she found it. I told him that there were pictures of him at the Getty Images site that were great, which he’d probably never seen.  We talked for 30 minutes.  

Later that day I had another phone message from him, asking me to call again. I called and he told me that he couldn’t find the pictures on the internet.  We talked another 30 minutes (during which his wife said, “Have him call you ‘Jim’.”). He then said to me, “Hey, we’ve talked twice today.  We’re pals.  So anytime you want to talk baseball, give me a call.”  Now my mouth was really hanging open!

So, without wearing out my welcome, I’ll call every 6-8 weeks and we have a nice chat.  His many anecdotes are really funny.  He’s a great guy.

I asked Everett if Jim ever talked about the double grand slam game:

I did talk to Jim about the double grand slam. What’s really fascinating is that he hit them on two consecutive pitches. He mentioned that he liked to swing at the first pitch, thinking it might be the best one he’d get.  First inning he hit a grand slam. Second inning, he hit the first pitch thrown to him over the fence. Wow!

I recently read that the odds against what Jim Gentile did—hitting two grand slams in the same game on consecutive pitches—is estimated to be seven-million-to one!

Everett also shared with me one funny story about Orioles’ manager Paul Richards, told via Jim Gentile:

He said that Richards expected those on the bench to pay attention to the game. He said Richards would turn to someone in the dugout and ask, “What’s the count?”  He also said you had to ask, or at least let him know, that you were going to the restroom in the locker room.  And if you weren’t back in about three minutes, he’d send someone after you!

Following his playing career, Jim played a year with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan. He later managed in the minors until 2005. He’s now age 87 and lives in Norman, Oklahoma. Everett mentioned that Jim’s become a big Oklahoma fan and enjoys talking about college football as much as anything. He’s been elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame.

The Good Old Days!

People often ask me why I like the “old days” of baseball so much more than today’s game. My answer is always that the old days had a certain “charm” that today’s game and today’s players lack. Perhaps you agree with me. I think that charm is demonstrated very vividly here today by Jim Gentile in his friendship with Everett Shockley.

We thank Everett for sharing with us some great information about Jim Gentile, as we gladly shine our baseball spotlight on a fine ballplayer whose career,  unfortunately, has been largely overlooked over the passage of time.

Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts edited from emails from Everett Shockley; and the Jim Gentile Wikipedia page; stats from Baseball Reference.com