Chick Hafey
Chick Hafey | ||
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Runs batted in | 833 | |
Teams | ||
Career highlights and awards | ||
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Member of the National | ||
Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
Induction | 1971 | |
Election method | Veterans Committee |
Charles James "Chick" Hafey (February 12, 1903 – July 2, 1973) was an American player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (1924–1931) and Cincinnati Reds (1932–1935, 1937), Hafey was a strong line-drive hitter who batted for a high average on a consistent basis.
Hafey was part of two
Early life
Hafey was born on February 12, 1903, in Berkeley, California. He attended Berkeley High School. The St. Louis Cardinals signed Hafey out of high school as a pitcher. However, Cardinals business manager Branch Rickey noticed Hafey's hitting abilities and decided that Hafey should become an outfielder.[1]
Career
St. Louis Cardinals
Hafey played in the minor leagues for the Fort Smith Twins of the Western Association in 1923. He moved to the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League the next year, hitting .360 before being called up to the Cardinals near the end of the season. He split time between the Cardinals and Syracuse Stars in 1925.[2] He spent the 1926 season with the Cardinals, but he played only 78 games.[3]
Hafey was the first major success of Rickey's expansive
In the field, Hafey was known for having a "rifle arm." He had a power peak, averaging 27
in the 1931 World Series, it marked just the second time that two reigning batting champions had opposed one another in the Fall Classic.Although the soft-spoken Hafey was overshadowed by some of his raucous Cardinals teammates, he was frequently at odds with management. Hafey's 1931 and 1932 seasons both began late due to salary disputes. Cardinals general manager Rickey fined Hafey for being late and out of shape in 1931. In 1932, coming off his batting title, Hafey demanded that the previous year's fine be added to his 1932 salary. When Rickey refused, Hafey bolted from St. Louis' spring training camp. Rickey responded by trading Hafey to the last-place Cincinnati Reds.
Cincinnati Reds
Hafey was happy to join the Reds, who gave him the raise he had sought, but his career faltered. His vision was still erratic, and his persistent sinus condition cost him half of the 1932 season, though he hit .344. In 1933, he was chosen for the inaugural
In June 1935, suffering from sinus problems and influenza, he returned to his ranch near Berkeley and his relatives there said that he would not return to baseball that season. The team wanted team surgeons to perform sinus surgery, but Hafey planned to have a procedure performed by his own doctor.[6] He tried a minor league comeback in 1936, but he gave that up in April because he was experiencing vision problems and dizzy spells still attributed to sinusitis.[7]
Hafey announced that he would attempt another comeback with the Reds in February 1937.[8] Not long after that, Hafey abandoned that comeback due to a salary dispute. In May, he announced that he would work out with a Pacific Coast League team to work his way back to the Cardinals.[9] He hit .261 in 89 major league games that year. He was released before the 1938 season by general manager Warren Giles when they could not agree to contract terms.[10]
He finished his career batting .317, with 164 home runs and 833 RBI. Hafey played in four World Series, hitting .205 in 92 plate appearances. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included Hafey in their 1981 book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They cited what they called "the Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome," where a player of truly exceptional talent might rank with the all-time greats on merit, despite a career sharply curtailed by injury.
Honors
Hafey was inducted into the
See also
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of St. Louis Cardinals team records
References
- ISBN 978-0810892163. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Chick Hafey Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Chick Hafey Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Chick Hafey". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ "1931 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ "Hafey out for season". The Pittsburgh Press. June 13, 1935. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Chick Hafey gives up idea of comeback try". The Tuscaloosa News. April 14, 1936. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- Berkeley Daily Gazette. February 11, 1937. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Chick Hafey plans to return to big league". The Bulletin. April 30, 1937. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ Schottelkotte, Jim (July 11, 1973). "Hall of Famer Chick Hafey is recalled by friends". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Bill James Answers All Your Baseball Questions", an April 2008 entry from the Freakonomics blog
- ^ Cardinals Press Release (January 18, 2014). "Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process". www.stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
Further reading
- Erion, Greg. "Chick Hafey". SABR.
External links
- Chick Hafey at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Chick Hafey at Find a Grave