Charlie Gilbert

{{Short description|American baseball player (1919–1983)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Charlie Gilbert

|position=Center fielder

|birth_date={{Birth date|1919|7|8}}

|birth_place=New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1983|8|13|1919|7|8}}

|death_place=New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 16

|debutyear=1940

|debutteam=Brooklyn Dodgers

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 28

|finalyear=1947

|finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.229

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=5

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=55

|teams=

• Brooklyn Dodgers (1940)
• Chicago Cubs (1941–1943, 1946)
• Philadelphia Phillies (1946–1947)

}}

Charles Mader Gilbert (July 8, 1919 – August 13, 1983) was an American professional baseball outfielder who appeared in 364 games, mostly as a center fielder, in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1940), Chicago Cubs (1941–1943 and 1946) and Philadelphia Phillies (1946–1947). He threw and batted left-handed and stood {{convert|5|ft|9|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|165|lb}}.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he was the son of former MLB outfielder and longtime minor-league manager Larry Gilbert; his brother Tookie also played in the majors.

Charlie Gilbert served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theatre of World War II.[https://baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/gilbert_charlie.htm Charlie Gilbert], Baseball in Wartime He joined the Dodgers in his second pro season, in {{mlby|1940}}. In his third MLB game, on April 23, 1940, he hit a pair of home runs against the Boston Bees in an 8–3 Brooklyn victory at Ebbets Field.Retrosheet [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1940/B04230BRO1940.htm box score (23 April 1940): "Brooklyn Dodgers 8, Boston Bees 3"] He thus became the first player, and one of three men in the history of the Dodgers' franchise, to have a multi-home-run game in his first five starts; the others are Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig.[https://www.truebluela.com/2017/4/29/15490318/dodgers-home-runs-cody-bellinger-yasiel-puig-justin-turner-comeback-wtf-wow True Blue LA.com]

He died at age 64 in New Orleans. Gilbert's daughter Jan went on the memorialize her late father in [https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/carrollgallery/exhibitions/emotional-brain/goodbye-dad Goodbye, Dad], a series of mixed-media works utilizing family photographs.{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Dave |title=One writer's journey into the circle of famed New Orleans artist John Clemmer {{!}} The Historic New Orleans Collection |url=https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/one-writers-journey-circle-famed-new-orleans-artist-john-clemmer |website=www.hnoc.org |access-date=1 November 2022 |date=15 October 2021}}