finalyear bats birth_place debutyear finaldate statvalue position finalteam statlabel debutdate birth_date article_title debutteam name throws
1956 left hollister , missouri 1955 may 8 .133 1 1 center fielder chicago cubs batting average home runs runs batted in april 11 20 january 1929 gale wade
 chicago cubs gale wade right
gale wade

galeard lee wade -lrb- born january 20 , 1929 -rrb- is a former center fielder in major league baseball who played for the chicago cubs in the 1955 and 1956 seasons .
wade was originally signed as an amateur free agent pitcher by the brooklyn dodgers organization .
he then was assigned to their ponca city affiliate club of the kansas-oklahoma-missouri league in 1947 .
as an 18-year-old rookie , wade had a split season record while building a 10-9 record in 28 pitching appearances and hitting a .318 average in 59 games as an outfielder .
after that , the dodgers organization felt that wade , with his swift speed , would be more valuable to the organization as an everyday player .
he made the switch to outfield , where he spent the rest of his professional baseball career .
wade would go on to lead four different circuits in stolen bases during his minor league career and twice in the venezuelan professional baseball league .
wade also played in the cleveland indians , cincinnati reds , kansas city athletics and milwaukee braves minor league systems in all of part of fifteen seasons spanning 1953 -- 1961 .
his most productive season came in 1955 , when he posted a .292 average with career-highs in home runs -lrb- 20 -rrb- , runs batted in -lrb- 67 -rrb- and stolen bases -lrb- 67 -rrb- in 120 games .
in addition , wade played winter baseball with the leones del caracas , navegantes del magallanes and indios de oriente in venezuela , where he built a fan base around him , earning the nickname `` galgo '' -lrb- greyhound -rrb- for his flashy speed on the bases .
in a four-season stint , he batted .304 and stole 44 bases in 163 games , and accompanied his pennant-winning caracas to the 1953 caribbean series , where he batted .353 .
following his playing career , wade lived and worked in nebo , north carolina , where he is a retired electrician and district manager for a rural electricity co-op .
