Francis Joseph O'Doul

Background

Francis Joseph O'Doul was born on March 4, 1897 in San Francisco, California. He grew up in the rough Irish neighborhood called Butchertown (near present-day Candlestick Park).

Education

Francis O'Doul attended Bay View School at Butchertown, San Francisco, California. There he started playing baseball, and besides this, he learned little during his seven years at school before his father, who believed that young people should learn a trade, insisted he leave and take a job in a slaughterhouse.

Career

In 1912, Rosie Stoltz, one of O'Doul's teachers, taught him the fundamentals of baseball. O'Doul later asserted, "I'll tell you this: Miss Stoltz alone is responsible for my success in baseball. " Under Stoltz's coaching, O'Doul led Bay View to the grammar school city championship. The following year, he pitched two semiprofessional clubs to city championships in the Native Sons League and the Mish-Taylors.

O'Doul's professional baseball career began in 1917 when he was signed by the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Just twenty years old, he had no idea how good a player he was until he got to training camp. The manager sent all fifty players to center field and then placed a $5 gold piece on home plate. O'Doul slid into home first to claim the money. Despite his speed, the team farmed him out to gain experience.

Then O'Doul went to Des Moines, Iowa, where he pitched three or four games before a line drive hit him and knocked off the tip of one finger. The injury ended his first professional season. He returned to San Francisco in 1918 to pitch for the Seals, but when the United States entered World War I, he enlisted in the navy.

In 1919, O'Doul joined the New York Yankees. This was his first major-league stop in a career that saw him optioned or traded thirteen times by different professional clubs. He went from the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox in 1922 and then, in 1924, was sent to the Pacific Coast League club in Salt Lake City. He had been a pitcher, but Utah's high altitude favored batters. He told his manager that from that time on he was an outfielder, because "you could hit a ball with one hand and hit it out of the ball park. "

As a hitter, he developed rapidly, leading the Pacific Coast League in 1924 with a . 392 average. The following year he set a Pacific Coast League record of 309 hits. His team moved to Hollywood in 1926, and O'Doul's batting average dropped to . 338, which resulted in his being traded back to the Seals. Hitting . 378, he won the batting crown, was voted the league's most-valuable player, and was drafted for the 1928 season by the New York Giants. Back in the major leagues, O'Doul again found himself traveling from team to team. During his one year with the Giants, an injury to his leg slowed him down, and he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1929, O'Doul had his greatest year. He won the National League batting crown, hitting . 398. On the last day of the season, in a doubleheader, he went 4 for 4 in the first game to break Rogers Hornsby's National League record of 250 hits in a season. He got 2 more hits in the second game to establish the new league record at 254 hits. (Bill Terry tied O'Doul's record in 1930; George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns set the majorleague record in 1920 with 257 hits. ) O'Doul played one more season for Philadelphia, two years for Brooklyn (again winning the batting title in 1932 with . 368), and then played for the Giants from mid-1933 until the end of the 1934 season. Thus, he was one of only a handful of men who had played for all three New York City teams.

After leaving the major leagues, O'Doul managed in the Pacific Coast League in San Francisco (1935 - 1951), San Diego (1952 - 1954), Oakland (1955), Vancouver (1956), and Seattle (1957). He also worked as a batting coach for the Giants when they moved to San Francisco.

Among his proteges were Joe DiMaggio, who played under him for two years on the Seals, and Willie McCovey, the Giants all-star first baseman. He refused credit for developing DiMaggio, saying, "Nobody taught Joe DiMaggio how to hit. I was just smart enough to leave him alone. "

O'Doul made at least twenty trips to Japan to promote baseball, the first in 1931. He usually led all-star teams in games against Japanese squads, and he coached the Japanese University League teams. His lasting contribution was the organization of the first Japanese professional team, the Tokyo Giants. During his lifetime, he was the best-known and most popular American ballplayer in Japan.

In 1958, O'Doul opened a restaurant in San Francisco that became a popular gathering spot for sports fans. His business interests and his many close friends reportedly prompted him to decline offers to manage the major-league Pittsburgh Pirates.

He died without issue in San Francisco.

Achievements

• Francis O'Doul's career batting average was . 349; he twice won the batting crown, played in the first All-star game (1933), and appeared in the 1933 World Series. Francis O'Doul organized the first Japanese professional baseball team, the Tokyo Giants. O'Doul was inducted into the San Francisco Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. A bridge over McCovey Cove is named the Lefty O'Doul Bridge in his honor.

Membership

O'Doul was active in the local Catholic Youth Organization.

Personality

Francis O'Doul had become a popular character in San Francisco during his minor-league career by stuffing baseballs in his pockets before going into the field and then tossing them to the children in the stands.

O'Doul's bright personality was accentuated by his eye-catching wardrobe, which at one time included more than 200 ties and an equal number of suits, most of which were green. He was called "the Man in the Green Suit" until late in his career, when he entered business and adopted more conservative dress.

Connections

O'Doul was married twice: to Abigail Lacey (1924) and to Jean Goodman (1953).

Wife:

Jean (Goodman) O'Doul

Wife:

Abigail (Lacey) O'Doul