Harry Walker
Harry William Walker (October 22, 1918 – August 8, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. Known by the nickname "Harry the Hat", he played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball between 1940 and 1955, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals with whom he won two world championships and was the 1947 National League batting champion. A two-time All-Star player, Walker also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. After his playing career, he served as manager for three major league teams between 1955 and 1972.
| Harry Walker | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_-_Pittsburgh_Pirates_-_1966.jpg) Walker in 1966 | |||
| Center fielder / Manager | |||
| Born: October 22, 1918 Pascagoula, Mississippi | |||
| Died: August 8, 1999 (aged 80) Birmingham, Alabama | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 25, 1940, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 19, 1955, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .296 | ||
| Home runs | 10 | ||
| Runs batted in | 214 | ||
| Managerial record | 630–604 | ||
| Winning % | .511 | ||
| Teams | |||
As player
As manager | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
| |||
Early life and family
Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Harry was a member of a baseball family. He was the son of former Washington Senators pitcher Ewart "Dixie" Walker and the brother of Fred "Dixie" Walker, like Harry an outfielder and National League batting champion. He was also the nephew of fellow Major League outfielder Ernie Walker. Harry stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
World Series star, NL batting champ
"Harry the Hat" got his nickname from his habit during at-bats of continually adjusting his cap between pitches—there were no batting helmets in his day. His batting title came in 1947, when he hit .363 in a season during which he was traded from his original team, the St. Louis Cardinals, to the Philadelphia Phillies. The previous year he played for the Cardinals’ 1946 World Series championship team. In the decisive seventh game against the Boston Red Sox, with Enos Slaughter on first base, Harry doubled to left center and Slaughter, running on the pitch and taking advantage of a slow relay from the Red Sox' Johnny Pesky, scored from first base in a "mad dash" with the winning run. He knocked in six runs during that Series, and batted .412.
Harry lacked his brother Dixie's power—he hit only ten home runs in 807 games played over all or parts of 11 seasons in the National League—but he compiled a .296 lifetime batting average and 786 hits with the Cards, Phils, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. Harry and Dixie are the only brothers in MLB history to win batting titles, Dixie having captured the National League batting title with a .357 average in 1944 while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
After prepping as a skipper in the Cardinals’ minor league system beginning in 1951, Walker was called up from Rochester in the Triple-A International League on May 28, 1955, to replace Eddie Stanky as Cardinals’ manager.[1] Walker, then 36, was still a playing manager; he hit .444 in nine pinch hitting appearances in July and August. However, the change backfired: the Cards plummeted two places in the standings under Walker, losing 67 of 118 games. Harry was replaced by Fred Hutchinson at the end of the 1955 season, and it would be another decade before he would again manage in the majors.
Manager in Pittsburgh and Houston
During that exile, he returned to the Cardinal farm system to manage (1956–58; 1963–64), and served four years (1959–62) as a St. Louis coach. After piloting the Jacksonville Suns to the 1964 International League pennant, Walker was hired[2] by the Pittsburgh Pirates as manager, replacing Danny Murtaugh, who stepped down for health reasons. The Pirates battled for the pennant until the closing days of the 1965 and 1966 seasons—each year finishing third behind the champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the runner-up San Francisco Giants. But when the 1967 Pirates—further strengthened by an off-season trade for standout shortstop Maury Wills—stumbled to a disappointing .500 mark in mid-season, Walker was let go on July 18 in favor of his predecessor, Murtaugh.[3] Less than a week later, Walker was hired to be the organizational batting coach for the Houston Astros.[4]
Eleven months later, on June 18, 1968, the Astros replaced skipper Grady Hatton[5] with "Harry the Hat". The last-place 1968 Astros were only 23–38 under Hatton, but, featuring players like Joe Morgan, Jimmy Wynn, and Don Wilson, their record under Walker improved to 49–52. In 1969, they contended for the National League West Division title before fading to finish 12 games behind the Atlanta Braves. After back-to-back 79–83 marks in 1970 and 1971, Walker was sacked August 26, 1972, in favor of Leo Durocher; with the Astros at 67–54 and in third place at the time of the firing, it was Walker's best season in Houston. Over his managing career, he won 630 games, losing 604 (.511). After his firing, Walker returned to the Cardinals as a hitting instructor.[6]
College head baseball coach
Walker served as the head baseball coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 1979 to 1986. He was the program's first coach. In ten seasons he compiled a record of 211-171, a .552 winning percentage. In 1981 the Blazers were the champions of the Sun Belt Conference's North Division in the third year of the program's existence. The Blazers repeated as North Division champions in 1982.
Legacy and death
Walker was profiled in Jim Bouton's memoir of the 1969 season, Ball Four. Although many of the players complain that Walker talks too much, Bouton points out that Walker always makes a good point and has good advice.
Walker died in Birmingham, Alabama, at the age of 80.[7] His interment was located at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Leeds.
See also
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Harry Walker managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
- Harry Walker at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
- Harry Walker at Find a Grave
- the Baseball Page
- UAB Baseball Records
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rollie Hemsley |
Columbus Red Birds manager 1951 |
Succeeded by Johnny Keane |
| Preceded by Johnny Keane |
Rochester Red Wings manager 1952–1955 |
Succeeded by Lou Kahn |
| Preceded by Mike Ryba |
Houston Buffaloes manager 1956–1958 |
Succeeded by Rube Walker |
| Preceded by Terry Moore |
St. Louis Cardinals first-base coach 1959–1962 |
Succeeded by Joe Schultz |
| Preceded by Joe Schultz |
Atlanta Crackers manager 1963 |
Succeeded by Jack McKeon |
| Preceded by Casey Wise |
Jacksonville Suns manager 1964 |
Succeeded by Grover Resinger |