Grady Hatton

{{Short description|American baseball player and manager (1922–2013)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Grady Hatton

| image = Grady Hatton 1949 Bowman.jpg

| caption = Hatton's 1949 Bowman Gum baseball card

| position = Third baseman / Manager

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|10|7}}

| birth_place = Beaumont, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|4|11|1922|10|7}}

| death_place = Warren, Texas, U.S.

| bats = Left

| throws = Right

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = April 16

| debutyear = 1946

| debutteam = Cincinnati Reds

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = October 1

| finalyear = 1960

| finalteam = Chicago Cubs

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Batting average

| stat1value = .254

| stat2label = Home runs

| stat2value = 91

| stat3label = Runs batted in

| stat3value = 533

| stat4label=Managerial record

| stat4value=164–221

| stat5label=Winning %

| stat5value=.426

| teams =

As player

Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs ({{baseball year|1946}}–{{baseball year|1954}})
Chicago White Sox ({{baseball year|1954}})
Boston Red Sox ({{baseball year|1954}}–{{baseball year|1956}})
St. Louis Cardinals ({{baseball year|1956}})
Baltimore Orioles ({{baseball year|1956}})
Chicago Cubs ({{baseball year|1960}})

As manager

Houston Astros ({{baseball year|1966}}–{{baseball year|1968}})

|highlights =

All-Star (1952)

}}

Grady Edgebert Hatton Jr. (October 7, 1922 – April 11, 2013) was an American professional baseball second baseman, third baseman, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs. Hatton is most identified with his native Texas: he was born in Beaumont, attended the University of Texas at Austin, managed minor league teams in Houston and San Antonio, and was an important contributor to the early years of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros.

Playing career

Hatton batted left-handed and threw right-handed, standing {{Convert|5|ft|8|in|abbr=on}} and weighing {{Convert|170|lb|abbr=on}}. He came to the Majors in 1946 without any minor league seasoning after serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.{{cite web|url=http://baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served_atoz.htm|title=Baseball in Wartime - Those Who Served A to Z|website=baseballinwartime.com}} Hatton made his MLB debut against the Chicago Cubs on April 16, going three for five with two runs batted in in a 4–3 loss.{{cite web|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1946/B04160CIN1946.htm|title=Retrosheet Boxscore: Chicago Cubs 4, Cincinnati Reds 3|website=www.retrosheet.org}} Hatton would bat .254 with 91 home runs and 1,068 hits over his 12-year big league career in 1,312 games played.

Hatton appeared in 116 games in 1946, the first of his six consecutive seasons as Cincinnati's regular third baseman. In {{baseball year|1952}}, Hatton moved to second base and was selected to the National League All-Star team, although he did not play in the July 8 game at Shibe Park (and hit only .212 for the season).

However, in 1954, Hatton's tenure in Cincinnati came to an abrupt end, as he appeared in only one game for the Redlegs before being traded to the Chicago White Sox on April 18. The ChiSox in turn sent him to the Boston Red Sox five weeks later—swapping him and cash for eventual Hall of Fame third baseman George Kell. Hatton was Boston's regular third baseman in {{baseball year|1954}}–55, then spent {{baseball year|1956}} in a utility role for the Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles. In {{baseball year|1957}} he finally played in the minor leagues, for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League.

Managerial career

From 1958–60, Hatton was the player-manager of the Double-A San Antonio Missions (and briefly served as a playing coach for the 1960 Cubs). He started the {{baseball year|1961}} campaign as manager of the Triple-A Houston Buffs,{{cite news |title=Hatton Returns to Oklahoma City |work=San Antonio Light |date=November 11, 1964 |page=40}} but he resigned early in the season to become the director of player personnel for the expansion Houston Colt .45s of the National League, set to begin play in {{baseball year|1962}}. He moved back into uniform as manager of Houston's Triple-A Oklahoma City 89ers farm in the Pacific Coast League from 1963–65 and was named minor league manager of the year for 1965 by The Sporting News.

Hatton succeeded Luman Harris as the (renamed) Astros' manager for 1966, while also carrying the additional title of club vice president and sharing general manager duties with Spec Richardson and Tal Smith. It was expected that Hatton would be able to harness the young talent he had developed at Triple-A. But the three-headed general manager experiment ended after 1966, with Richardson assuming sole GM duties, and Hatton's Astros compiled a record of only 164–221 (.426) in {{frac|2|1|2}} years. He was replaced as skipper by Harry Walker midway through the 1968 campaign, on June 17. At the time, Houston was 23–38 and tenth and last in the National League.

Post-managerial and coaching career

Hatton remained with the Astros as a scout from 1968–72, and as a Major League coach in 1973–74. He was still active in baseball in the late 1980s as a scout for the San Francisco Giants.

Hatton died from natural causes on April 11, 2013. He was 90.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/grady-hatton-the-former-third-baseman-who-managed-the-houston-astros-in-1960s-has-died/2013/04/11/36a3c450-a30c-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html|title=Grady Hatton, the former third baseman who managed the Houston Astros in 1960s, has died|newspaper=The Washington Post }}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}