Gene Desautels
Marine Corps Service
Eugene Abraham “Gene” Desautels earned the title of United States Marine at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. After receiving an order to report for Army induction in January 1944, the 36-year-old catcher obtained a brief deferment and enlisted in the Marine Corps on February 29.
Private First Class Desautels remained at Parris Island, where his experience was put to work in the depot’s athletic program. By August 1944 he was reported as the leading hitter on the Parris Island baseball team. He coached the Marines’ basketball team during the winter and managed the baseball team for two summers, gaining his first experience as a manager.
Desautels was discharged on July 28, 1945. Just eight days later, he was back in a Major League uniform, catching for Cleveland in the second game of an August 5 doubleheader. Available documentation places his service at Parris Island and does not establish overseas or combat duty.
Baseball Career
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 13, 1907, Desautels became a catcher almost by accident. His older brother needed someone to receive his pitches, and Gene was pressed into service at age six. He later earned three dollars catching batting practice for a semiprofessional club. Future Hall of Fame umpire Bill Summers once dismissed him as a “three-dollar catcher,” a phrase that followed Desautels through his career.
At Holy Cross, Desautels developed into one of the country’s finest collegiate catchers under former Major Leaguer Jack Barry. The Crusaders won Eastern championships in each of his three seasons and went 28–2 in 1929. Desautels batted .368, .423, and .484, then graduated in June 1930 and went directly to the Detroit Tigers without playing a minor-league game.
He made his Major League debut in the second game of a June 22 doubleheader against Boston. Desautels spent four seasons with Detroit, returned to the majors with the Boston Red Sox in 1937, and became Boston’s primary catcher. His best offensive season came in 1938, when he batted .291, drove in 48 runs, and hit the first two home runs of his career. The first was an inside-the-park home run at spacious Griffith Stadium.
Desautels was valued more for receiving, preparation, and his work with pitchers than for power. In 1939, he caught all 12 of Lefty Grove’s victories without Grove shaking him off once. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin later called him the most underrated catcher in the American League.
After four years in Boston, Desautels joined Cleveland in a three-team trade. On August 11, 1942, he caught a 14-inning scoreless tie in which he recorded neither a putout nor an assist because Cleveland pitcher Al Milnar did not strike out a batter. It became a Major League record for the longest game in which a catcher had no defensive chances.
Following his Marine Corps service, Desautels finished 1945 with Cleveland and was claimed by the Philadelphia Athletics. He played his final Major League season in 1946, delivering a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth to beat his former Cleveland club 1–0 on August 29. His last appearance came at Yankee Stadium on September 22. Across 13 Major League seasons, Desautels caught 712 games and recorded 469 hits, 187 runs batted in, and a .233 batting average.
Later Life and Legacy
Desautels also represented the Athletics at a pivotal July 1946 players’ meeting in Chicago. The players proposed a pension plan, minimum salary, spring-training expenses, trade and waiver compensation, and a grievance committee. The meeting was an important early step toward organized collective bargaining in Major League Baseball.
After one final season as a player with Toronto, Desautels managed in the Detroit Tigers organization. He led Flint to a pennant in 1950 and guided the Little Rock Travelers to a 93–60 record and their first Southern Association pennant in nine years in 1951. His seven-year managerial record was 462–439.
Desautels later worked in Flint, Michigan, as an athletic consultant for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, a school counselor, and an occasional Tigers scout. Holy Cross inducted him into its Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1981 and honored him as the finest catcher in the school’s history. He died in Flint on November 5, 1994, at age 87.
Sources and Further Reading
- Society for American Baseball Research, Gene Desautels biography
- Major League Baseball, Gene Desautels statistics and biographical data
- Baseball-Reference, Gene Desautels Major League record
- Baseball Almanac, September 22, 1946 box score
- Holy Cross Athletics Hall of Fame
- StatsCrew, Gene Desautels managerial record
- Find a Grave, Eugene Abraham Desautels memorial
- Wikipedia, Gene Desautels