James Edward Gentile (pronounced "jen-TEE-uhl") (born June 3, 1934 in San Francisco, California), also nicknamed "Diamond Jim", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left-handed batter who played with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1957–58); Baltimore Orioles (1960–63), Kansas City Athletics (1964–65), Houston Astros (1965–66) and Cleveland Indians (1966).
A powerful slugger listed at 6' 4", 215 lb, Gentile languished for eight years in the minors for a Dodgers team that already had All-Star Gil Hodges in first base. Traded to Baltimore, Gentile enjoyed his best season in 1961, hitting a career-highs .302 batting average, 46 home runs, 141 runs batted in, 96 runs, 147 hits, 25 doubles. 96 walks, .423 on base percentage, .646 slugging average and 1.069 OPS. He was considered in the MVP selection (third, behind Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris). In addition, Gentile hit five grand slams — including two straight in one game — setting an American League record that stood until Don Mattingly belted six in 1987.
In a nine-season career, Gentile batted .260 (759-for-2922) with 179 home runs, 549 RBI, 434 runs, 113 doubles, six triples, and three stolen bases in 936 games. Following his major league career, he played one season in Japan for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1969.
Gentile managed the Fort Worth Cats when they returned to baseball in 2001 and 2002. Jim also managed the 2005 Mid-Missouri Mavericks of the Frontier League.
Famous quotes containing the word gentile:
“But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?””
—Bible: New Testament, Galatians 2:14.