Doug Ault
| Doug Ault | |
|---|---|
 Ault during his time at Texas Tech |
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| First baseman | |
| Born: March 9, 1950 Beaumont, Texas |
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| Died: December 22, 2004 (aged 54) Tarpon Springs, Florida |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| September 9, 1976 for the Texas Rangers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 5, 1980 for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .236 |
| Home runs | 17 |
| Runs batted in | 86 |
| Teams | |
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Douglas Reagan Ault (March 9, 1950 – December 22, 2004) was a Major League Baseball first baseman/designated hitter who played for the Texas Rangers (1976) and Toronto Blue Jays (1977–1978, 1980). He batted right-handed and threw left-handed.
A native of Beaumont, Texas, Ault was a varsity baseball star at Texas Tech. He was signed by the Rangers in 1976 as an amateur free agent and played nine games as a September call-up in his first season.
Ault joined the new Blue Jays franchise via the 1976 expansion draft. On April 7, 1977, in front of 44,649 Opening Day spectators at Exhibition Stadium, Ault hit Toronto's first home run in the first-inning off Chicago White Sox left-hander Ken Brett. Ault homered again in the third inning, this time a two-run shot that tied the score at 4-4 in a game the Blue Jays went on to win, 9-5.
At the time, Ault's feat tied a major league record for the most home runs in an Opening Day game. Since then, George Bell (also a Blue Jay) hit three homers on 1988 opening day, Tuffy Rhodes matched the feat in 1994, and Dmitri Young equalled it in 2005.
Ault's 64 RBI in 1977 set a club rookie record that lasted until Eric Hinske drove in 84 runs in 2002.
In a four-year career, Ault was a .236 hitter with 17 home runs and 86 RBI in 256 games.
Following his playing career, Ault served as a manager in the Blue Jays organization for the Single-A teams Dunedin, Kinston and St. Catharines. He also managed the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs.
Ault died at his home in Tarpon Springs, Florida, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 54 years old.
[edit] See also
- Boxscore and play-by-play of the opening day game on April 7, 1977, at Retrosheet[1]
[edit] References
- ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Toronto Blue Jays 9, Chicago White Sox 5". Retrosheet. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1977/B04070TOR1977.htm. Retrieved September 15, 2008.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Baseball Almanac
- Baseball Library
- Find-A-Grave
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- 1950 births
- 2004 deaths
- American expatriate baseball people in Canada
- American expatriate baseball players in Japan
- Baseball players from Texas
- Baseball players who committed suicide
- Hanshin Tigers players
- Major League Baseball first basemen
- Major League Baseball designated hitters
- Minor league baseball managers
- People from Beaumont, Texas
- Suicides by firearm in Florida
- Syracuse Chiefs players
- Texas Rangers players
- Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball players
- Toronto Blue Jays players
