Gene Woodling

Eugene Richard Woodling (August 16, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder between 1943 and 1962, most prominently as a member of the New York Yankees dynasty that won five consecutive World Series championships between 1949 and 1953.

Woodling was a left-handed batter known as a line drive hitter who hit over .300 five times during his 17-year career and, had a .318 batting average during his five World Series appearances. He excelled defensively, leading American League outfielders in fielding or tied for the lead four times, and never made more than three errors in a season during his tenure with the Yankees. Woodling also played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, and the New York Mets in their expansion year of 1962. His baseball career was interrupted by his military service in the United States Navy during the Second World War. After his playing career, he served several major league teams as a coach and a scout.

Woodling was born on August 16, 1922, in Akron, Ohio, where his father worked in a rubber factory. He played baseball at Akron East High School. Woodling also played semi-pro baseball for the Goodyear Rubber team while still in school, from 1937 to 1939, with a .452 batting average one year. In 2024, he was inducted into the Akron Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame.

His professional baseball career began in 1940 when he signed with the Indians' organization. He was assigned to the Mansfield Braves of the Ohio State League in 1940, where he had a .398 batting average. In 1941, he was assigned to the Flint Arrows of the Michigan State League and hit .394. He broke his leg early in the 1942 season, but in 1943 Woodling hit .344 for the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Eastern League. He was called up briefly to the major leagues in September, where he hit .320 for Cleveland in 25 at bats.

Woodling was drafted into the U.S. Navy during World War II, in October 1943. He was sent to Naval Station Great Lakes, located in Illinois on Lake Michigan, where he spent the year in "ship's company". During that time, he played baseball with other professional baseball players who had joined the Navy, as the Great Lakes Blue Jackets, under Lieutenant Commander Mickey Cochrane (a Hall of Fame catcher). The team included future Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman, Al Glossop, Schoolboy Rowe and Si Johnson, winning 48 out of 50 games in 1944. In February 1945, Woodling was sent on a tour of duty with the Third Fleet to the Marshall Islands, Guam, Saipan and Leyte in the Philippines. Woodling was discharged from Naval service in January 1946.

Woodling returned to baseball in 1946, at the major league level. He played 61 games for Cleveland, batting only .188. He was traded to the Pirates in December for Al Lopez. In 1947, he played for the Newark Bears of the International League in Triple-A baseball, batting .289. At the end of the season, the Pirates traded Woodling to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), and he batted .386 in 1948. The Sporting News named him Minor League Player of the Year. While with the Seals, Woodling came under the hitting tutelage of manager Lefty O'Doul, who as a major league player had a lifetime .349 batting average. Woodling credited O'Doul with getting him back to the major leagues.

Before coming to the majors for good in 1949, Woodling was a four-time minor league batting average champion. He mostly played left field (1,208 games) when he entered the majors, but appeared in 325 contests in right field and played 93 games in center.^{[citation needed]}

On September 30, 1948, the Seals sold Woodling's rights to the Yankees. Casey Stengel had been manager of the Oakland Oaks of the PCL in 1948, and his team played against Woodling. He became the Yankees manager for the 1949 season, and was likely involved with the Yankees acquiring Woodling.