In another final card post we
get Gail Hopkins, who shares a couple career paths with the last post subject,
Leron Lee. Like Leron, Gail would be in another league by the time of this
card’s issuance; would spend his last MLB time with the Dodgers; and would play
with a degree of success in Japan
following his MLB career. Gail would then go on to bigger and better things
back in the States, but at card time he is just enjoying a sunny day in Oakland while some
teammates take infield behind him. Gail was in the midst of his third season in
KC when this photo was shot, and his second since the acquisition of John
Mayberry, who would play nearly every day at Gail’s favored position of first
base. That meant that he – Gail – only had moderate playing time those two
seasons. In ’73 the arrival of the DH doubled his plate time as he hit .209
with a .342 OBA in that role and did better as a pinch hitter with a .370
average with a .485 OBA. But KC was building itself through its system and the
following spring Gail would be released and then do some brief pinch hitting
work for LA in ’74. Then things got interesting.
Gail Hopkins was born in Oklahoma and as a kid relocated to Long Beach, California,
where in high school he played the big three sports and was a catcher in
baseball. He then got a hoops scholarship to Pepperdine where he eventually
gave up that sport – too may shots to the head – but continued catching and was
an All-American in ’63. He graduated the following year, played ball that
summer in Canada,
and then signed with the White Sox in ’65. He got off to a good start that year
in A ball, leading his league’s catchers in pretty much all fielding stats
while hitting .272 with 54 RBI’s. In ’66 he hit the crap out of the ball at
that level with a .358/12/66 line in just 312 at bats, though why he wasn’t
moved up is a mystery. In ’67, still in A ball, he hit well again, posting a
.312/20/79 line with a .439 OBA while splitting time now between catching and
first base, his new spot. In ’68 he finally moved up, hitting .324 in Double A
and the same level in Triple A around a few at bats during his mid-year debut
in Chicago. At
both spots his OBA was above .400. Somehow during that season he also coached
ball at his alma mater.
In ’69 Hopkins made the cut in spring training and
as a rookie split time at first base with Tommy McCraw. Gail hit pretty well
and put up a .351 OBA while providing some pretty good fielding. In ’70 he
occupied the same role and boosted his average 20 points but missed some time
with an injury. After that season he went to Kansas City with outfielder John Matias for
Pat Kelly. With KC in ’71 Gail had his best offensive season as he split time
at first again, now with Bob Oliver and Chuck Harrison. He actually began the
season as a pinch hitter and performed well in that role, hitting .312 with a
.500 OBA. That was good training for his future with the Royals because once
they stole John Mayberry from Houston,
Gail’s plate time declined significantly. In ’72 half his at bats came in the
pinch - .219 with a .308 OBA – and per the above he had a nice ’73 in that
role. By the time of this card’s issuance Gail had been released in late spring
training and he hooked up with San Diego for some Triple A ball in Hawaii where
he hit super well with a .308/12/54 line in 330 at bats. That got him a
mid-season purchase by the Dodgers, who pulled him up to LA for some more pinch
work that summer. After Gail hit .333 with a .429 OBA in that role he was
released in late October.
In ’75 Hopkins
did a Leron Lee – a year earlier than Lee did actually – and took his bat to Japan. There he
hooked up with Hiroshima,
where he became a slugger his first year (a line of .256/31/91) and a
high-average guy his second (.329/20/69). In ’77 he moved to Nankai where he had
a .266/16/69 line in his final season. Gail finished with an MLB average of
.266 with 25 homers, 145 RBI’s, a .352 OBA, and about one strikeout per 16
plate appearances. He got shut out of any playoff time with LA but hit .312
with a .384 OBA in the minors.
Hopkins was a busy guy in academia during and after his
playing career, earning a graduate degree in biology while playing and then
four post-graduate degrees after baseball. One of those degrees was an MD and
since the mid-Eighties he has been an orthopedic surgeon in both California and West
Virginia, where he currently resides. He was inducted
in Pepperdine’s hall of fame during his playing career and the Western
Collegiate Conference one a couple years ago. He has also served on his alma
mater’s Board of Regents for nearly twenty years. This is his final card.
Gail did some nice work in
the minors and seemed capable of doing more up top if given more playing time.
He earned undergrad degrees in biology and theology at Pepperdine and is a big
bible guy. I have been super busy with work which is why there’s been such a
delay between posts. Only eight more to go.
I can’t go through Japan for these
two so let’s try this:
1. Hopkins and Rich Morales ’68 to ’70 White Sox;
2. Morales and Leron Lee ’73
Padres.
