Frankie Hayes

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Frank Witman Hayes (October 13, 1914 - June 22, 1955) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball from 1933 to 1947. He batted and threw right-handed, and played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the most significant portion of his career. Other teams he was a member of, all fairly briefly, included the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox, playing his entire career in the American League.

[edit] Career overview

Hayes was a native of New Jersey, growing up in Jamesburg where he was born. He was 6'0' and 185 lbs, often referred to as "Blimp", even though he wasn't very huge in size.

When he was first called up to the majors on September 21 of 1933, he was the youngest player in the league at 18 years of age. That year, he was 0 for 5.

In his 11 seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics (1933-1942, 1944-1945), he made 5 All-Star teams. His best season was probably 1940, when he batted .308 with 16 home runs and 70 RBIs. Although his power numbers were greater the year before (20 HRs, 83 RBIs), he had clearly improved as a hitter improving from a .283 average the year before. Hayes' on base percentage improved even more drastically, going from .348 in 1939 to .389 in 1940, up .41 points. His stolen base numbers also climbed for 4 to 9. The Athletics fans began to welcome Hayes and consider him one of the most key parts of their ballclub.^{[citation needed]}

For the most part, each year with the A's, his statistics got stronger, until he was traded to the Browns for Bob Harris and Bob Swift. After two shortened seasons with the Browns, he was traded back to the A's for Sam Zoldak. It seemed his career had been resparked after returning to Philadelphia. In 1944, he made the All-Star team once again, for the 5th time in his career. That year, he hit .248 with 13 home runs and 78 RBIs, picking up a career-high 144 hits in 581 at bats. He had 18 doubles and 6 triples on the season.

In the middle of 1945, he was traded to Cleveland and made his final all-star game. He retired with the Red Sox on May 17, 1947. He never reached the postseason, and died in Point Pleasent, New Jersey in 1955, only 7 years after retiring.

His final career statistics include 119 home runs and 628 RBIs. He had 545 runs scored in his career, averaging 65 a year. He compiled 30 stolen bases in total, and had 213 doubles and 32 triples. He had 1164 career hits.

[edit] Highlights

• 6-time All-Star, counting the unofficial game in 1945 (1939, '40, '41, '44, '45, '46)
• Led the league in games in 1944 (155)
• In 1944, ranked 14th in MVP voting (Hal Newhouser won)
• Led the league twice in fielding percentage, putouts, double plays, and once in assists as a catcher
• On July 25, 1936, he tied the major league record with four doubles in a game
• Drove in and scored the only run of one of teammate Bob Feller's no-hitters, with his home run in the 9th inning

[edit] Sources

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis