Stan Hack

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Stanley Camfield Hack (December 6, 1909 – December 15, 1979), nicknamed "Smiling Stan", was an American third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the National League's top third baseman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Usually a leadoff hitter, he batted .301 lifetime, scored 100 runs seven times and led the NL in hits and stolen bases twice each. His 1092 walks ranked fourth in NL history when he retired, and remain a franchise record; he also hit .348 in the World Series, which he competed in four times. His .394 career on-base percentage was the highest by a 20th-century third baseman until Wade Boggs exceeded it in the late 1980s, and was the top NL mark until 2001. Hack led the NL in putouts five times, in double plays three times and in assists and fielding percentage twice each. At the end of his career he ranked second in major league history to Pie Traynor in games (1836) at third base, second in NL history to Traynor in putouts (1944), assists (3494) and total chances (5684), and third in NL history in double plays (255).

Career

Hack, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, was born in

In 1939 he batted .298 and tied for the NL lead in steals with 17, also finishing second in runs (112) and pacing the league in putouts (177). He had another outstanding campaign in 1940, topping the league in putouts (175), assists (302) and double plays (27), finishing fourth with a .317 batting average, and tying for the NL lead in hits (191). He was one behind the league leader with 21 steals, and was fourth in doubles (38, a personal best), fifth in runs (101), and sixth in on-base percentage (.395) and total bases (265). Although he did not make the All-Star team, he finished eighth in the MVP balloting. On May 17 of that year, he suffered a concussion after being hit in the head by a foul ball while standing on third base as a baserunner. 1941 saw him duplicate the previous year's accomplishments by again finishing fourth in the NL with a .317 batting mark and leading the league in hits; he was second in the league with a .417 on-base percentage and 111 runs, fourth in walks and fifth in doubles. And in 1942 he was third in hits and doubles, fourth in runs and walks, and fifth in on-base percentage, while again batting .300 and leading the NL in fielding average for the first time with a .965 mark.

1943 saw a slight drop-off in his performance, though he was still among the league leaders in walks and on-base percentage, with a .289 batting average, and was again an All-Star; but a strained relationship with manager Jimmie Wilson led Hack to retire at season's end. He was persuaded to return in mid-1944 after Grimm returned to lead the team, and batted .282 in 98 games – his lowest mark in over ten years – with similarly lowered averages in slugging and OBP. But 1945 marked a full comeback as he enjoyed one of his best years, leading the NL again in putouts (195) and fielding average (.975), and setting a record with 54 consecutive error-less games. He hit a career-high .323 (fourth in the league), and finished third in OBP (.420), hits (193) and walks (99) and fifth in runs (110). The Cubs won the pennant by three games, and Hack finished eleventh in the MVP vote, won by teammate Phil Cavarretta. In the World Series against the Tigers, he hit .367, though memories of Game 6 of the 1935 Series lingered. In Game 1 at Detroit, he was observed staring out toward third base; when asked what he was looking at, he replied, "I was just looking to see if I was still standing there." He reached base four times in a 4–1 loss in Game 2, and had two hits in the 3–0 Game 3 win. Game 6 at Wrigley Field was a thrilling affair; after a walk and a single in his first two turns at the plate, he singled with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to give the Cubs a 2–1 lead, and went on to score himself. After another walk and single, he came to bat in the 12th inning with the score tied at 7, two out and pinch runner Bill Schuster on first base; Hack doubled to left field off Tiger pitcher Dizzy Trout, with the ball taking a sharp bounce over outfielder Hank Greenberg's shoulder, giving the Cubs an 8–7 win and tying the Series. At the time, it was the first time in Cubs history any player recorded 4 hits in a World Series game; a feat that was matched 71 years later by Kris Bryant in Game 6 of the 2016 World Series. It was all for naught, however, as Chicago lost 9–3 in Game 7. They would not return to the Fall Classic until 2016.

In 1946, he hit .285 in only 92 games, though he was still fifth in the league with 83 walks. He ended his career in

Hack became a minor league manager, leading Des Moines in 1948–49, Springfield in 1950 and the Los Angeles Angels from 1951 to 1953. He then took over as Cubs manager in spring training of 1954, replacing Cavarretta. They had losing campaigns during each of his three seasons running the team. He became a batting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1957–58, managing them for the last ten games in 1958, and then returned to managing in the minor leagues in Denver (1959), Salt Lake City (1965) and Dallas-Fort Worth (1966).

Personal life and post-career

He later became a restaurant manager, with his second wife Gwen, and died at age 70 in Dixon, Illinois. His first wife Dorothy Weisel Hack was a prominent amateur tennis player. He is buried in Grand Detour Cemetery in Grand Detour, Illinois. Stan had two sons with Gwen: Stanford Hack and David Hack. David had two sons with his first wife, Diane: Michael and Robert Hack, then a son and daughter with his second wife, Deb: Steven and Rebecca.

Quotations

• "I watch the ball more than most hitters. I let it get right up on me – maybe I even swing a little late." – explaining why most of his hits went to the opposite field
• "Hack came closest to an earthly manifestation of the ideal third baseman of the day. Tall, slender, handsome, confident – Hack was the idol of every sandlot urchin playing third base in a pair of torn knickers." – William Curran, author of a study on baseball fielding

See also

• List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
• List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
• List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches

References

• Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia (2000). Kingston, New York: Total/Sports Illustrated.
  ISBN 1-892129-34-5
  .

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stan Hack.

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Stan Hack at Find a Grave