One of eight children, Galan was born in Berkeley, California. Galan’s parents had emigrated from France in the late 19th century, and his father operated a French hand laundry on Berkeley’s University Avenue. At age 11, Augie Galan broke his right elbow playing sandlot ball. He concealed the injury from his parents, fearful of being barred from further play. The arm was never set, healed improperly, and it was never fully healthy throughout Galan's professional career. He graduated from Berkeley High School.
In a 16-season big-league career, Galan posted a.287 batting average with 1,706 hits, 100 home runs and 830 runs batted in in 1,742 games played. He twice led the National League in stolen bases, with 22 thefts in and 23 in. He also led the Senior Circuit in runs scored and bases on balls, and four times exceeded.800 in OPS, each time finishing in the NL's Top Ten in that category. In 1937, Galan was the first player National Leaguer to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in a game. Galan was selected to three National LeagueAll-Star teams and homered off Schoolboy Rowe in the 1936 contest to help power the senior circuit to a 4–3 victory. He also played in three World Series, but his teams never won. Galan collected four fall classic hits in 29 total at bats. He reached the.300 plateau six times. In 1935, he became the first full-time player to make 649 plate appearances and not hit into a double play, though he hit into a triple play. That year, he led the National League with 133 runs scored. Often injured, Galan had a deformed arm from a childhood injury. The knee injury eventually forced him to give up batting from the right side of the plate.
Later life
After leaving the major leagues in 1949, Galan returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and played two more seasons with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, then managed the club to a 77–103 record in 1953. He joined the Philadelphia Athletics' coaching staff in, their last year in that city, and went on to spend 17 years as a minor league coach and manager in the Athletics' organization. Galan died in 1993 in Fairfield, California, at 81 years of age. He was survived by his wife of 40 years, Shirley, and four children, Karen Dumont of Redding, Calif., Adrianne Hain of Napa, Calif, Augie Jr. of Portland, Ore. and Darcy Rafferty of Newark, N.J.
