Grady Hatton obit

Grady Hatton dies at age 90

 

He was not on the list.

WARREN, Texas -- Grady Hatton, the former major league third baseman who managed the Houston Astros in the 1960s, has died. He was 90.

Alyssa Hatton, his granddaughter, says Hatton died Thursday of the effects of old age at his home in Warren, the rural East Texas Piney Woods town that was his home for 40 years.

Hatton hit .254 with 91 home runs and 533 RBIs in 1,312 major league games in 12 seasons from 1946 to 1960 with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs. He had a 164-221 record as Houston's manager from 1966-68.

The Beaumont native starred at the University of Texas and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

A funeral is scheduled for Monday at First Baptist Church of Warren. He will be buried Mount Pisgah Cemetery near Woodville.

Hatton batted left-handed and threw right-handed, standing 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and weighing 170 lb (77 kg). 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. 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. Hatton would bat .254 with 91 home runs and 1,068 hits over his 12-year big league career in 1,312 games played.

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

However, in 1954, his tenure in Cincinnati came to an abrupt end when 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. He was Boston's regular third baseman in 1954–55, then spent 1956 in a utility role for the Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles. In 1957 he finally played in the minor leagues, for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League.

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 1961 campaign as manager of the Triple-A Houston Buffs, 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 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 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.

 

Teams

 

As player

Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs (1946–1954)

Chicago White Sox (1954)

Boston Red Sox (1954–1956)

St. Louis Cardinals (1956)

Baltimore Orioles (1956)

Chicago Cubs (1960)

As manager

 

Houston Astros (1966–1968)

Career highlights and awards

All-Star (1952)