Career
He made his major league debut for John McGraw"s New York Giants in 1910, before being traded to the Boston the next year. He didn"t have much playing time, and spent the majority of the 1913 season with the Buffalo Bisons in the International League. In the 1914 World Series, he had a.545 batting average, including the only home run of the series, in the historic upset of Connie Mack"s Philadelphia Athletics.
Gowdy saw more playing time in subsequent seasons, but when World War I broke out, he became the first major league player to sign up.
He saw considerable action in France with the 166th Infantry Regiment of the Ohio National Guard, including some of the worst trench fighting in the war. When he returned in 1919, he got his old job as a catcher back, but not before going on a speaking tour of the United States, detailing his war experiences.
Four years later, he was traded back to the Giants, where he played in the 1923 and 1924 World Series, but his heroics weren"t repeated, as he committed a costly error which led to the game-winning run in Game 7 against the Washington Senators. In 1925, the Giants released him.
Four years later, he made a comeback with Braves, albeit with very limited playing time.
He then became a coach with the Giants, Braves, and the Reds. Later he left his coaching job to serve as a captain in World World War II at the age of 53. He"s believed to be the only big-league baseball player to serve in both wars.