Gaylen Pitts Dies, Was Member of Oakland A’s Championship Team and Beloved Coach

A member of the 1974 World Series Oakland Athletics who went on to leave a long legacy as a coach has died.

Gaylen Pitts passed away on Oct. 10, according to his death notice in the Baxter Bulletin. He was 78.

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Pitts appeared in 27 games during his major league career, all with Oakland from 1974-75. The A’s defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the last of their three consecutive World Series titles in 1974, then followed that up with another division title before losing to the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 American League Championship Series. Pitts did not appear for the A’s in the postseason either year.

A talented athlete growing up in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Pitts declined a football scholarship offer to Arkansas State University to instead begin his pro baseball career in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.

Pitts’ minor league career was a long journey just to reach the big leagues. He appeared in parts of 10 minor league seasons, playing 911 games, from 1964-74. Along the way he was traded by the Cardinals to Oakland in July 1971.

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After playing his final major league game in Sept. 1975, Pitts would spend two more seasons at the Triple-A level before retiring as a player. In 44 career at-bats, Pitts hit .250 with four doubles and four runs batted in.

Pitts began his managing career with Oakland’s farm system, leading the Modesto A’s in 1978 and 1979. He returned to the Cardinals organization in 1981 when he was named manager of the Arkansas Travelers of the Double-A Texas League.

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That kicked off a long coaching career in the Cardinals’ organization that eventually led him to interview for the manager’s job that went to Joe Torre in 1990. Pitts didn’t get the job, but still served as a coach on Torre’s staff from 1991-95.

When the Cardinals hired Tony La Russa to replace Torre in 1996, Pitts interviewed for a major league job but was not retained. He returned to the minor leagues instead and managed the Cardinals’ Triple-A teams from 1997-2002.

The Memphis Redbirds won the Pacific Coast League championship in 2000 under Pitts, thanks in part to a walk-off home run hit by a 20-year-old Albert Pujols.

After leaving the Cardinals in 2002, Pitts would go on to make coaching stops in the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees organizations before returning to a player development assistant position with St. Louis in 2009. His 364 wins with the Redbirds are second all-time.

Pitts managed multiple generations of Cardinals prospects. Besides Pujols, he mentored Rick Ankiel, Daniel Descalso, J.D. Drew, Jon Jay, Placido Polanco and Todd Zeile. He managed Andy Van Slyke and his son, A.J. Van Slyke. Jay and Descalso are now Cardinals coaches themselves.

“I’m really impressed with the job that Gaylen does,” Tony La Russa, the Cardinals’ manager, said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2000.

Pitts’ legacy includes serving in the U.S. Army for two years during the Vietnam War. He is survived by two brothers and a son, Travis.

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