Jim Gentile

Since there was no room for a rookie first baseman on a team that already had Gil Hodges, Diamond Jim (so nicknamed by Roy Campanella, who considered the young lefthanded slugger a diamond in the rough) languished for eight years in the Dodger farm system. Finally traded to Baltimore, in 1961 the temperamental San Francisco native batted .302 with 46 HR and – on only 147 hits – a club record 141 RBI. His five ’61 grand slams, including two straight in one game, set an AL record that stood until 1987.