Eugene Richard Woodling (August 16, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout.
He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder between 1943 and 1962, most prominently as a member of the New York Yankees dynasty that won five consecutive World Series championships between 1949 and 1953.
[1] Woodling was a left-handed batter known as a line drive hitter who hit over .300 five times during his 17-year career and, had a .318 batting average during his five World Series appearances.
[1] Woodling also played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, and the New York Mets in their expansion year of 1962.
His baseball career was interrupted by his military service in the United States Navy during the Second World War.
[5] He broke his leg early in the 1942 season, but in 1943 Woodling hit .344 for the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Eastern League.
[7] The team included future hall of fame second baseman Billy Herman,[8] Al Glossop, Schoolboy Rowe and Si Johnson, winning 48 out of 50 games in 1944.
[3] In February 1945, Woodling was sent on a tour of duty with the Third Fleet to the Marshall Islands, Guam, Saipan and Leyte in the Philippines.
[5] At the end of the season, the Pirates traded Woodling to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), and he batted .386 in 1948.
[2] While with the Seals, Woodling came under the hitting tutelage of manager Lefty O'Doul,[1] who as a major league player had a lifetime .349 batting average.
[2] Stengel generally platooned him[citation needed] with right-hander Hank Bauer, but each averaged 400 at bats per season.
[11] In 1951, Woodling helped Allie Reynolds secure his first of two no-hitters on the season, when he homered in a 1–0 win over Bob Feller and the Indians.
[17][14] On November 17, 1954, a record 17-player deal took place between the Orioles and Yankees, involving Woodling, future 20-game winner Bob Turley and Don Larsen,[9][18] who would go on to pitch a perfect game in the 1956 World Series for New York.
[11] Woodling was appointed on November 20, 1963, as the Orioles' first-base coach by former Yankees teammate Hank Bauer, who had become the team's manager one day earlier.
[1] After coaching and scouting he worked for Eaton Corp. selling millions of grips for aluminum baseball bats.