O'Doul, "Lefty" (Francis J.)
Baseball
b. March 4, 1897, San Francisco, CA
d. Dec. 7, 1969
Originally a pitcher, O'Doul spent a long time in the minor leagues. He was with the New York Yankees briefly in 1919, 1920, and 1922, and in 1923 he appeared in 23 games, 22 of them in relief, for the Boston Red Sox. After that, he had just a 1-1 record.
Then he was moved to the outfield. He returned to the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1928, when he was thirty-one years old, and proved himself a tremendous hitter. Unfortunately, his career had been on hold too long. He spent only 6½ seasons in the majors as an outfielder, winning two batting titles in the process.
O'Doul hit .319 in his season with the Giants, then went to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1929. He led the league with a .398 average and 254 hits that season, hitting 32 home runs, scoring 152 runs, and driving in 122.
After batting .383 in 1930, he was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He hit .336 for them in 1931 and won his second batting title with a .368 average in 1932, when he had 21 home runs and 90 RBI.
During the 1933 season, O'Doul was sent back to the Giants. He hit .306 for them, ending the season with a composite .284 average. The Giants won the pennant and O'Doul got his only at-bat in the World Series that year, hitting a single to drive in 2 runs in the second game, as the Giants beat the Washington Senators in five games.
O'Doul finished his major league career by hitting .316 as a part-time player for the Giants in 1934. His career batting average was .349. He had 1,140 hits in only 970 games, including 175 doubles, 41 triples, and 113 RBI. He scored 624 runs and drove in 542.
O'Doul was immensely popular in his native San Francisco, where a bridge on Third Street is named for him. The bridge was rebuilt in 2000 for the opening of Pacific Bell Park (now SBC Park), which is nearby.