Former Yankees All-Star McDougald dead at 82
Gil McDougald, an All-Star infielder who helped the Yankees win five World Series during the 1950s, has died. He was 82. The Yankees released a statement Monday saying McDougald died Sunday of prostate cancer at home in Wall Township, N.J.
McDougald spent his entire 10-year major-league career with the Yankees and played a key role on one of baseball's greatest dynasties. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1951 and teamed with Hall of Famers such as Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and manager Casey Stengel to win eight pennants from 1951-60.
"Gil was a great guy, well liked by the team and a hell of a ballplayer,'' Ford said in a statement released by the Yankees. "He was a good fielder and was always a fierce competitor."
McDougald, a native of San Francisco, played second base, third base and shortstop and led the league in double plays at all three positions. He batted .276 with 112 home runs and 576 RBIs before retiring at 32 after the 1960 season. From 1970-76 he was Fordham's baseball coach.
On May 7, 1957, McDougald hit a line drive that struck Indians lefthander Herb Score in the eye. Score missed the rest of the 1957 season and much of the 1958 season, and was never again the outstanding pitcher he had been.
In 1955, a batted ball led to a long-term problem for McDougald. He was struck in the left ear by a ball during batting practice, and the injury eventually cost him the hearing in his left ear and later in his right.
A 1996 Sports Illustrated story reported McDougald regained his hearing in 1994 after getting a cochlear implant. After 25 years of deafness, he became an advocate for the hearing-impaired.
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