Gail Hopkins

Who is Gail Hopkins?

Gail Eason Hopkins is a former Major League Baseball player and coach. Before reaching the majors, he was a catcher at Pepperdine University, where he was named an All-American in 1963. He was primarily a first baseman and catcher in the majors, and was the first Pepperdine baseball player to play Major League Baseball. Hopkins also played basketball at Pepperdine. He recalls that part of why he chose Pepperdine was that he had gone to high school in southern California and wanted to stay in the area; he also wanted to study both religion and biology, and Pepperdine gave him the chance to do so. Hopkins was raised in the Churches of Christ.

He played from 1968-1974 with the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers, and was a member of the 1974 National League champion Dodgers. He played in over 100 games each season between 1969 and 1971. He subsequently played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Nankai Hawks in the Japanese Leagues.

In Nolan Ryan's first career no-hitter, Hopkins appeared as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 8th inning, and hit a bloop fly that Angels shortstop Rudy Meoli caught with a running catch. Ryan stated in his autobiography "Throwing Heat" that Hopkins' out was the closest he came to losing the no-hitter.