Billy Hatcher (baseball player)

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William Augustus "Billy" Hatcher (born October 4, 1960 in Williams, Arizona) is a former baseball player for the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers, and former first base coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Hatcher is now the first base coach for the Cincinnati Reds.

Billy Hatcher is best remembered for his dramatic home run in the bottom of the fourteenth inning of Game 6 of the 1986 National League Championship Series, temporarily saving the Houston Astros from elimination. The Astros, however, went on to lose the game, and the series, to the New York Mets in the sixteenth inning.

Hatcher is also remembered for his fantastic hitting performance for the Reds in the 1990 World Series against the Oakland Athletics. In 1990, Hatcher set a World Series record with seven consecutive hits. In addition, Hatcher's .750 batting average (9 for 12) broke a mark for a four-game World Series that was previously set by Babe Ruth (.625 in 1928). Hatcher though, was not named the Series Most Valuable Player as that honor went to Reds pitcher José Rijo.

Hatcher's most dubious achievement was his ten-game suspension during the 1987 season for bat corking, which was levied after Hatcher's bat shattered in a game and was discovered to be filled with super balls. Hatcher later claimed that he had borrowed the bat from relief pitcher Dave Smith, a claim that was not widely believed.