Gair Allie
From BR Bullpen
Gair Roosevelt Allie
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
- School Wake Forest University
- Debut April 13, 1954
- Final Game September 26, 1954
- Born October 28, 1931 in Statesville, NC USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Gair Allie was the regular shortstop on the 1954 Pittsburgh Pirates in his only season in the big leagues. His one-season career is like that of Sparky Anderson, who had the same experience with the 1959 Philadelphia Phillies.
Dick Groat had come to the Pirates in 1952, but had gone off in 1953-54 to the military and to pro basketball. When Groat came back to the Pirates in 1955, he became the regular shortstop.
Allie's range was above average at shortstop, but he hit only .199. To some extent he made up for it by getting an above-average number of walks, and added 6 triples. However, he was third in the league in strikeouts and his on-base-percentage was poor.
Allie had been at Wake Forest University, a North Carolina university, in 1951. Since Dick Groat had been at Duke University in North Carolina at the same time, the two might well have played against each other.
Allie played for the amateur or semipro Stellarton Albions in Nova Scotia, hitting 19 home runs in 1951. He was assigned to New Orleans in 1952.
