Dick Gernert // Baseball
Bio Information: Dick Gernert, a native of Reading, PA, joined the NSU basketball team although he was a professional baseball player with the Boston Red Sox organization. He began his baseball career in 1950 and found his way to Northern in unique fashion. Ed Pesaresi, the Wolves assistant basketball coach at the time, was a previous manager for a semipro baseball team in Nova Scotia. Gernert came to Northern via Harold Buckwalter who has played for Pesaresi back in Nova Scotia. Under the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference rules at that time, professional baseball players could compete collegiately in other sports as they were deemed an amateur in that venue.    Â
Professional Information: In 11 MLB seasons, Gernert appeared in 835 games as a first baseman and outfielder. He hit .254 with a .351 on base percentage and .426 slugging percentage. Gernert tallied 632 hits, 357 runs scored, 402 RBI, 363 walks, 104 doubles, 103 homeruns, ten stolen bases, and eight triples. Gernert played for the Boston Red Sox (1952–59), Chicago Cubs (1960), Detroit Tigers (1960–61), Cincinnati Reds (1961) and Houston Colt .45's (1962). He was involved in the first interleague trade without waivers in baseball history on November 21, 1959, when Boston shipped him to the Cubs for first baseman Jim Marshall and pitcher Dave Hillman. He helped the Reds win the 1961 National League pennant as a pinch hitter. However, in that World Series, which the Reds lost to the New York Yankees in five games, he was 0-4 in pinch-hitting roles.
After his playing days ended, Gernert was a coach for the Texas Rangers, a minor league manager, and longtime scout for numerous teams, most notably the New York Mets.
Gernert in the News:
Batting Around articles by Larry Desautels (Aberdeen Daily News)
Gernert Could be Key to Red Sox Fortunes (Aberdeen Daily News)
Gernert Gives up Basketball (Aberdeen Daily News)
Society for American Baseball Research by Don Hyslop
Top 100 Red Sox Blog
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