Gary Alexander (baseball)

Gary Alexander
Catcher
Born: (1953-03-27) March 27, 1953 (age 71)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 12, 1975, for the San Francisco Giants
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 1981, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Batting average.230
Home runs55
Runs batted in202
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Gary Wayne Alexander (born March 27, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1975 through 1981 for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.[1] Alexander caught John Montefusco's no-hitter in 1976.[2]

Alexander was traded along with Gary Thomasson, Dave Heaverlo, John Henry Johnson, Phil Huffman, Alan Wirth and $300,000 from the Giants to the Athletics for Vida Blue on March 15, 1978.[3] Mario Guerrero was sent to the Athletics on April 7 to complete the transaction. Alexander was dealt again three months later at the trade deadline on June 15 when he went from the Athletics to the Indians for Joe Wallis.[4] On September 26, 1978, his home run with two outs in the ninth inning ended a no-hit bid by Mike Flanagan of the Baltimore Orioles.[5]

In a seven-season major league career, Alexander posted a .230 batting average with 55 home runs and 202 RBI in 432 games played. His best statistical season was in 1978 when he hit 27 home runs and had 84 RBI's, 57 runs, 112 hits and 20 doubles in 148 games played, all career-highs.[1]

Alexander is now a captain in the Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Gary Alexander". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "San Francisco Giants 9, Atlanta Braves 0". Retrosheet. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  3. ^ "Seven Players Traded to A's," United Press International (UPI), Thursday, March 16, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2020
  4. ^ "Ex-Salukis Wallis, Dwyer are traded," The Associated Press (AP), Friday, June 16, 1978. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  5. ^ Sutton, Keith. "With Two Out in the Ninth: The Almost No-Hitters". SABR. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  6. ^ https://www.facebook.com/gary.alexander.5648?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDo1OTQxODAzNjExNjgyMzlfNTk0NTE4MDQ3ODAxMTM3 [user-generated source]