Gil Coan

Who is Gil Coan?

Gilbert Fitzgerald Coan is a former outfielder in Major League, playing mainly as a left fielder for four different teams between the 1946 and 1956 seasons. Listed at 6' 0", 180 lb., he batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

In 1945, Coan was honored by The Sporting News as the Minor League Player of the Year while playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association. He entered the majors in 1946 with the Washington Senators, playing for them eight years before joining the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and New York Giants. A line-drive hitter and speedy outfielder, he averaged 12 stolen bases from 1948–52, with a career-high 23 in 1948.

In 1947, Coan made 21 hits in 42 at bats for a .500 batting average to collect the highest BA for any player who had 30 or more at-bats in a major league season, setting a record that was surpassed by Rudy Pemberton in 1996 with a .512 BA. His most productive season came in 1951, when he posted career highs in home runs, runs batted in, runs and games played while hitting .303, equaling a personal mark he set the year before. He also tied a major league record he shares with four other players by hitting two triples in a same inning on April 21, 1951.