finalyear death_date debutyear statvalue finalteam birth_date death_place finaldate image statlabel debutteam name throws caption birth_place debutdate bats position article_title
1946 23 january 1988 1939 4.41 7 -- 12 65 new york giants december 7 , 1915 cortland , new york september 26 johnny gee c. 1945.jpg earned run average win -- loss record strikeouts pittsburgh pirates johnny gee left gee with the new york giants , c. 1945 syracuse , new york september 17 left pitcher johnny gee

johnny gee

john alexander `` johnny '' gee , jr. -lrb- december 7 , 1915 -- january 23 , 1988 -rrb- , sometimes known as `` long john gee '' and `` whiz '' , was a professional baseball and basketball player .
gee played major league baseball for the pittsburgh pirates from 1939 to 1944 and for the new york giants from 1944 to 1946 .
in august 1939 , he was one of the top pitching prospects in the minor leagues when he was purchased by the pirates in exchange for $ 75,000 and four players -- the highest price paid by the pirates for a player until the purchase of hank greenberg in 1947 .
after suffering an injury to his throwing arm during spring training in 1940 , his performance suffered , and he was sometimes referred to as the `` $ 75,000 lemon . ''
at six feet , nine inches , gee was the tallest person to play major league baseball until randy johnson debuted for the montreal expos in september 1988 .
gee also played professional basketball for the syracuse nationals .
in november 1946 , he became the leading scorer for the nationals in their first home game and first win as a member of the national basketball league .
gee also played college baseball and basketball at the university of michigan from 1935 to 1937 .
he was the captain of the 1936 -- 37 michigan wolverines basketball team and struck out 21 batters in a june 1937 baseball game .
he received the big ten medal of honor as the student in the class of 1937 who had best demonstrated proficiency in both scholarship and athletics .
