After playing for the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Canadian Baseball League in 1964, Hopkins signed a professional baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox organization. He played minor league baseball from 1965 to 1968 in the Florida State League, California State League, Caroline League, Southern League and Pacific Coast League. From 1968 to 1974, Gail played with the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers, and was a member of the 1974 National League champion Dodgers (though he did not see action in the postseason). He played in over 100 games each season between 1969 and 1971. Hopkins was known as a difficult batters to strike out having one of lowest strike out to at bats ratios in baseball during his playing career. From 1975 to 1977, he subsequently played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Nankai Hawks in the Japanese Professional Baseball leagues. In 1975, Gail set a Hiroshima Carp home run record with 33 while helping lead the Carp to its first Central League Championship and a trip to the Japan Series. In 1976, he played in the Japanese All-Star game, batting .329 for the season. In 1977, Gail played for the Nankai Hawks of the Pacific League, before retiring from professional baseball to pursue a full-time career in medicine.\n', '

In Nolan Ryan\'s first career no-hitter (May 15, 1973), Hopkins appeared as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 8th inning, and hit a bloop fly that Angels shortstop Rudy Meoli caught with a running catch. Ryan stated in his autobiography "Throwing Heat" that Hopkins\' out was the closest he came to losing the no-hitter.\n', '

Hopkins and his wife Caroline, who is a registered nurse, raised two children who both became physicians: a daughter, Leah G. Hopkins, M.D., who is an Internal Medicine specialist in private practice in Parkersburg, West Virginia and a son, Gail E. Hopkins, II, M.D., who is an Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon specialist practicing in Redlands, California with Arrowhead Orthopaedics.\n', '

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