Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 47 -- Taylor Douthit An Elite MLB Outfielder

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

47. TAYLOR DOUTHIT

Years at Cal: 1922 to 1924

Sport: Baseball

Pro teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs

Age: Died in Fremont, California in 1986 at the age of 85

Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas

Why we ranked him here: Douthit compiled a lifetime batting average of .291 in 11 major-league seasons, but he made his living as one of the game’s elite defensive center fielders. He led the National League in outfield putouts five times, including a still-standing, nearly century-old MLB-record total of 547 putouts in 1928. St. Louis Cardinals manager Bill McKechnie on comparing Douthit to Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, said, “He has been compared to Speaker, but, in my opinion, it should be the other way. Speaker at his best should be compared with Douthit. (Douthit) covers an almost unbelievable amount of ground and is a sure catch.” Known to Cardinals fans as the “Ball Hawk,” Douthit could not explain his defensive prowess. “I know there is something that tells me where a ball is going. I do not know what it is,” he once said, according to an article by SABR. Douthit began his career bouncing between the minor leagues and time with St. Louis his first three seasons (1923-25). He batted .335 with 26 home runs in the minors, showing more power than he ever did in the big leagues, where he totaled just 29 homers. But from 1926 through ’30, Douthit batted .302 and scored 525 runs from the leadoff position. As a first-year, full-time starter in 1926, he hit .308 with 23 stolen bases and a league-best 37 sacrifice bunts, helping the Cardinals to the first of his three World Series. St. Louis beat Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees in seven games, but Douthit did not play the final three games after being knocked unconscious on a collision in the outfield. He batted a career-best .336 in 1929 when he had 206 hits with 42 doubles and scored 128 runs. Douthit suffered a hip injury early in the 1931season and he was traded shortly thereafter to Cincinnati. He played 2 1/2 seasons with the Reds, then his final year with the Chicago Cubs.