recorded an overall .973 fielding percentage. Post-season games Gilliam played in seven World Series with the Dodgers, four of them against the New York Yankees. In the 1953 World Series he singled to lead off Game 1, and had a solo homer in the fifth inning batting left-handed. He hit three doubles, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 7–3 Game 4 victory; he had another homer, this time batting right-handed, in the 11–7 loss in Game 5. In Game 3 of the 1955 World Series, he drew a walk with the bases loaded in the second inning to give the Dodgers the lead for good, and he drove in the first run of the 8–5 Game 4 win; the Dodgers won in seven games for their first Series championship. In the 1956 World Series, he walked with one out in the tenth inning of Game 6 and scored on a single by Robinson to give the Dodgers a 1–0 victory, tying the Series; in Game 5, he struck out and grounded out twice in the perfect game pitched by the Yankees' Don Larsen. In the 1963 World Series, he scored the only run of Game 3 in the first inning, after walking and advancing to second base on a wild pitch; after advancing all the way to third base on an error by Joe Pepitone in the seventh inning of Game 4, he scored on a Willie Davis sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a 2–1 win and a Series sweep. He was also on Dodgers teams which won the Series in 1959 against the Chicago White Sox and 1965 against the Minnesota Twins. His final major league appearance was in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. Coach Gilliam served as a player-coach beginning in 1964, and became a full-time coach in 1967. He continued as a coach with the Dodgers until his death in 1978, including three more Dodger pennant teams in 1974, 1977, and 1978; they lost the World Series in each year. Death and legacy Gilliam suffered a massive brain hemorrhage at his home on September 15, 1978, and, following surgery, lapsed into a coma from which he did not recover. He died in Inglewood, California, nine days before his 50th birthday, one day after the Dodgers clinched their tenth pennant during his tenure in the 1978 National League