Don Gutteridge

Donald Joseph Gutteridge (June 19, 1912 – September 7, 2008) was an American infielder, coach and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates, and later managed the Chicago White Sox in 1969–1970. He was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, and was the first cousin of former MLB catcher Ray Mueller.

Gutteridge played his first game for the Cardinals at age 24, and in only his second career major league game had six hits in a doubleheader, including an inside-the-park home run and two steals of home plate. He was an average hitter with excellent speed and fielding ability (he turned five double plays in a game in 1944 during the Browns' only pennant-winning season). Gutteridge was sold to the Red Sox in 1946, where he played in his only other World Series. He retired from playing after only two games with the Pirates in 1948.

Gutteridge coached for the White Sox for over a decade (1955–66 and 1968–69), including the 1959 pennant-winning team, and in 1969 he succeeded Al Lopez as manager on May 3. He led Chicago to a fifth-place finish in the AL West that season and was fired with 26 games left in the 1970 season on September 1. He was replaced by interim manager Bill Adair. His record over those two partial seasons was 109–172 (.388).

Gutteridge died on September 7, 2008, in his hometown of Pittsburg after contracting pneumonia.^[1] At the time of his death, Gutteridge was the oldest living former manager or coach in Major League Baseball. He was also the last living St. Louis Brown who played in the 1944 World Series—the franchise's only Fall Classic.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Don Gutteridge at Find a Grave