{{Short description|American baseball player (1920–1970)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Paul Gillespie |position=Catcher |image=Paul Gillespie 1947.jpg |caption=Gillespie, circa 1947 |bats=Left |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1920|9|18}} |birth_place=Gordon County, Georgia, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1970|8|11|1920|9|18}} |death_place=Anniston, Alabama, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 11 |debutyear=1942 |debutteam= Chicago Cubs |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 30 |finalyear=1945 |finalteam= Chicago Cubs |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.283 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=6 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=31 |teams= * Chicago Cubs ({{baseball year|1942}}, {{baseball year|1944}}–{{baseball year|1945}}) }} '''Paul Allen Gillespie''' (September 18, 1920 – August 11, 1970) was an American Major League Baseball catcher for the Chicago Cubs in 1942, 1944, and 1945. A native of the Sugar Valley Community in Gordon County, Georgia, he stood {{height|ft=6|in=3}} and weighed 195 lbs.
Gillespie is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. He was a key reserve on the Chicago Cubs pennant-winning team in 1945. That was his best season, as he appeared in 75 games and hit .288 with three home runs, 25 runs batted in, and 12 runs scored. He played great defense, making just two errors in 45 appearances at catcher.
Gillespie hit a home run in his first major league at bat, doing so against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds on September 11, 1942.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats5.shtml|title=Home Run in First At-Bat | Baseball Almanac|website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}</ref> He also hit a home run in his final regular season major league at bat,<ref name="sabr">{{cite web |title=Paul Gillespie – Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/paul-gillespie/ |access-date=December 6, 2020}}</ref> on September 29, 1945, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats18.shtml|title=Home Run in Last At Bat | Baseball Almanac|website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}</ref> Gillespie and John Miller are the only two players in major league history to do both. Gillespie subsequently played in three out of seven games of the 1945 World Series, and went 0-for-6.
His career totals for 89 games include a .283 batting average (58-for-205), six home runs, 31 RBI, 17 runs scored, a .358 on-base percentage, and a .405 slugging percentage. In 56 appearances as a catcher his fielding percentage was .978, which was exactly the league's average during the time he played.
Gillespie died at the age of 49 in Anniston, Alabama.
==See also== *List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat *List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their final major league at bat
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gillepa01.shtml Baseball Reference] *[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pgillp103.htm Retrosheet]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Paul}} Category:1920 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Major League Baseball catchers Category:Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Brownsville Charros players Category:Lake Charles Skippers players Category:Elmira Pioneers players Category:Salina Millers players Category:Oklahoma City Indians players Category:Gadsden Pilots players Category:Knoxville Smokies players Category:Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Category:Nashville Vols players Category:Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Category:Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Category:Macon Peaches players Category:People from Gordon County, Georgia Category:20th-century American sportsmen