Randy Hundley

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Cecil Randolph Hundley Jr. (born June 1, 1942 in Martinsville, Virginia) is a former Major League Baseball Gold Glove winning catcher who played for the San Francisco Giants for 16 at bats (1964-1965), the Chicago Cubs (1966-1973), the Minnesota Twins (1974), the San Diego Padres (1975), and for the Cubs again in 1976 and 1977.

Hundley came to the Cubs in one of the best trades (for the Cubs) in their history; along with Hundley, they received future 20-game winner Bill Hands. Hundley ended up becoming considered the best Cubs catcher since Gabby Hartnett. Besides being a consistently decent hitter, Hundley was one of the best fielding catchers in the late 60's. He also was a workhorse, setting a record in 1968 with 160 games behind the plate (147 complete). He also became the first player to catch 150 games for three consecutive years (1967-1969).

When he won the Gold Glove in 1967, he committed just four errors for an NL record. When the Cubs made their unsuccessful run for the title in 1969, Hundley's fielding and 18 home runs were key contributions, but he was thoroughly worn out by season's end.

After a few more years, his hard work began to wear on him. His iron-man streak ended on April 21, 1970, when his left knee was seriously injured when the Cardinals' Carl Taylor collided with him, putting him out of action for several weeks. Then he badly injured his right knee in 1971. He was never the same after that and drifted to the Twins, Padres, and then finally back to the Cubs where he ended his career on September 25, 1977.

Hundley was one of the few catchers to steal home, doing it on May 19, 1966 against Gary Kroll of the Houston Astros after tripling off Dick Farrell. He also hit for the cycle on August 11 of that year in a 9-8, 11-inning win, also against the Astros. That year, Hundley also picked up his career-high in home runs (19).

In 14 seasons, Hundley accumulated 82 home runs, 381 RBIs, and a .236 batting average in 1061 games played. Hundley had 12 career stolen bases. He picked up 813 career hits in 3442 at bats. His son Todd Hundley played for 15 years as a catcher in the major leagues as well.

[edit] See also

• Hitting for the cycle

[edit] Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference