Canadian baseball player (1907–1997)
Baseball player
Augustin Joseph "Gus" Dugas (March 24, 1907 – April 14, 1997) was a Canadian-born professional baseball outfielder. He played parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1930 and 1934, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Senators. Listed at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 165 pounds (75 kg), he batted and threw left-handed.
Biography
Dugas first played professionally in 1930, with the minor league Wichita Aviators, a Class A team in the Western League, batting .349 with 203 hits (including 23 home runs) in 143 games.[1] In September, he made his major league debut, appearing in nine games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .290 (9-for-31) with one run batted in (RBI).[2] In April 1931, before appearing in any games with the Pirates, Dugas collided with shortstop Ben Sankey during a practice, suffering a broken jaw.[3] After recuperating, Dugas spent the season with the Kansas City Blues, a Double-A team in the American Association, batting .419 with 137 hits in 93 games.[2]
Dugas returned to MLB in 1932, playing in 55 games with the Pirates, batting .237 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.[2] In December, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, as part of a four-player deal involving the Pirates, Phillies, and New York Giants.[2] During 1933, Dugas saw limited action with the Phillies, appeared in 37 games between mid-April and early August;[1] he batted .169 with no home runs and nine RBIs.[2] Defensively, he made the only non-outfield appearances of his major league career, playing 11 games as a first baseman.[2] In August, Dugas was sent to the minor league Albany Senators of the American Association as the player to be named later from an earlier transaction for third baseman Jim McLeod.[2] With Albany, Dugas batted .379 in 38 games through the end of the season.[1]
In 1934, Dugas played for the Washington Senators from mid-April to late June;[1] he appeared in 24 games,[2] almost exclusively as a pinch hitter.[4] He collected one hit in 19 at bats, for an .053 average.[2] He spent the balance of the season with Albany, batting .371 in 57 games.[1] In parts of four major league seasons with three teams, Dugas appeared in 125 games, batting .206 with three home runs and 23 RBIs.[5] Defensively, he accrued a .926 fielding percentage in the outfield, and .984 at first base.[5]
After 1934, Dugas appeared exclusively in the minor leagues, spending time with the Montreal Royals (1935–1938), Baltimore Orioles (1938–1939), Nashville Vols (1939–1942), Toronto Maple Leafs (1943), and one post-war season with the Providence Chiefs (1946).[1] He appeared in over 1200 minor league games, during which he hit at least 175 home runs (records for the 1938 season are incomplete).[1]
Personal life
Dugas married Doris Buteau in October 1934; the couple settled in Norwich, Connecticut, and had four children.[6] His draft registration card of October 1940 indicated that Dugas became a naturalized American citizen.[7] Dugas was an inaugural member of the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1968,[8] and there is a "Lefty Dugas Drive" around Dodd Stadium in Norwich.[6] in April 1977, Dugas was one of seven Quebec-born former MLB players who threw out ceremonial first pitches before the first Montreal Expos home game at Olympic Stadium.[9] A great-grandchild, Andrew Carignan, played in MLB in 2011 and 2012.[6]
Dugas died in April 1997, two weeks after suffering a stroke.[10] In reporting his death, some reports referred to Dugas as "the first Canadian-born baseball player in the major leagues";[10] however, that distinction lies with Bob Addy, who played in the National Association in 1871.[11]
