Harvey Gentry

From BR Bullpen

Harvey William Gentry

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.

Debut April 14, 1954
Final Game April 27, 1954
Born May 27, 1926 in Winston-Salem, NC USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Before the 1947 season Harvey Gentry was signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent. He would be assigned to the class D Bristol Twins of the Appalachian League and spend the first two years of his career with the Twins, hitting .269 in his first year and following it up with .292 in 1948.

Harvey would have three good years (1949-1951) with the class C Fort Smith Giants, class B Knoxville Smokies and AAA Minneapolis Millers and Ottawa Giants, hitting .310 over the 3 seasons with 20 home runs. Harv would go at about the same speed for the next three years, Hitting .265 for Ottawa in 1952, .294 (with 15 home runs) for the Nashville Vols in 1953 and fall a bit to .242 with the AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1954 when he would get his chance in the majors with the New York Giants.

Harvey was a major leaguer for just a brief time for the World Champion New York Giants, Gentry picked up one base hit in four pinch-hitting appearances and recalled the hit coming off the Milwaukee Braves Lew Burdette. Harvey would go back to the minors in the South Atlantic League for the 1955-56 seasons without a lot of success and call it a career after the '56 year.

Harvey had been in pro baseball as an outfielder for ten seasons (1947-1956) and his stats show he was an accomplished journeyman player. He appeared in 1,191 games, went to bat 4,598 times, banged out 1,136 base hits (including 66 home runs) and finished his minor league career with a .247 batting average.

Gentry's older brother, Rufe Gentry, was a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers in the 1940's. As of last notice Harvey resides in Bristol, TN, where he is a retired foreman for the Raytheon Company.