Harry Walker

Infobox MLB retired
name=Harry Walker
position=Outfielder/Manager


bgcolor1=#BC003A
bgcolor2=#BC003A
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
birthdate=October 22, 1916
city-state|Pascagoula|Mississippi
deathdate=August 8, 1999 (Aged 82)
city-state|Birmingham|Alabama
bats=Left
throws=Right
debutdate=September 25
debutyear=1940
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
finaldate=August 19
finalyear=1955
finalteam=St. Louis Cardinals
stat1label=Batting average
stat2label=Hits
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat1value=.296
stat2value=786
stat3value=214
teams=As Player
*St. Louis Cardinals (1940-1943, 1946-1947, 1950-1951, 1955)
*Philadelphia Phillies (1947-1948)
*Chicago Cubs (1949)
*Cincinnati Reds (1949)As Manager
*St. Louis Cardinals (1955)
*Pittsburgh Pirates (1965-1967)
*Houston Astros (1968-1972)
highlights=
*World Series champion: 1942, 1946
*National League pennant: 1943
*2-time National League All-Star
*National League batting champion: 1947

Harry William Walker, known to baseball fans of the middle 20th century as "Harry the Hat" (October 22, 1916 – August 8, 1999), was an American baseball player, manager and coach.

Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Harry was a member of a distinguished baseball family. He was the son of former Washington Senators pitcher Ewart “Dixie” Walker and the brother of Fred “Dixie” Walker, like Harry an outfielder, left-handed hitter, and one-time National League batting champion.

World Series star, NL batting champ

"Harry the Hat" got his nickname from his habit during at-bats of continually adjusting his cap between pitches — there were no batting helmets in his day. His batting title came in by|1947, when he hit .363 in a season during which he was traded from his original team, the St. Louis Cardinals, to the Philadelphia Phillies. The previous year he was one of the stars of the Cardinals’ 1946 World Series championship team; with Enos Slaughter on 1st base, Harry singled to left center and Slaughter, amazingly, scored from first base, which was the decisive run that defeated the Boston Red Sox. He knocked in six runs during that Series, and batted .412. Harry lacked his brother Dixie’s power - he hit only 10 home runs in all or parts of 11 seasons in the National League - but he compiled a .296 lifetime batting average with the Cards, Phils, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds and was to be famed throughout his coaching and managing career as a batting tutor.

After prepping as a skipper in the Cardinals’ minor league system beginning in 1951, Walker was called up from Rochester in the AAA International League on May 28, by|1955, to replace Eddie Stanky as Cardinals’ manager. However, the change backfired: the Cards plummeted two places in the standings under Walker, losing 67 of 118 games. Harry was replaced by Fred Hutchinson at the end of the 1955 season, and it would be another decade before he would again manage in the majors.

Manager in Pittsburgh, Houston

During that exile, he returned to the Cardinal farm system to manage (1956-58; 1963-64), and served four years (1959-62) as a St. Louis coach. Finally, after piloting the Jacksonville Suns to the 1964 International League pennant, Walker was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as manager, replacing Danny Murtaugh, who stepped down for health reasons. Although the Pirates did not win a pennant during Walker’s first two seasons, he made an immediate impact. His skills as a batting coach transformed the Pirates into the National League’s top offensive team, and the team battled for the pennant until the closing days of the by|1965 and by|1966 seasons – each season finishing third behind the champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the runner-up San Francisco Giants. But when the by|1967 Pirates stumbled to a disappointing .500 mark in mid-season, Walker was let go on July 18 in favor of his predecessor, Murtaugh.

Eleven months later, on June 18, by|1968, fortune reversed itself. The Houston Astros dismissed skipper Grady Hatton and hired “the Hat,” still well-known from his stint as manager of the Texas League Houston Buffaloes during the late 1950s. Featuring players like Joe Morgan, Jimmy Wynn, and Don Wilson, the Astros finished last in by|1968, but their record under Walker was an encouraging 49-52. In by|1969, they contended for the National League West Division title before fading to finish 12 games behind the Atlanta Braves. After back-to-back 79-83 marks in by|1970 and by|1971, Walker was sacked August 26, by|1972, in favor of Leo Durocher; ironically, with the Astros at 67-54 and in third place at the time of the firing, it was Walker’s best season in Houston. Over his managing career, he won 630 games, losing 604 (.511). After his firing, Walker returned to the Cardinals, teaching hitting to their young minor league players.

Practicing what he preached

Harry Walker was profiled quite flatteringly in Jim Bouton's memoir of the 1969 season, Ball Four. In the book, Walker is seen as a knowledgeable manager who has good advice for his charges. Although many of the players complain that Walker talks too much, Bouton is careful to point out that Walker always makes a good point and has good advice. This is notable because Bouton was unafraid to show his earlier manager, Joe Schultz, in a much less flattering light. Bouton even tells a humorous story of how Walker himself would follow the advice he always gave when he played in an old timer's game. The players jokingly would yell tips that Walker always said, such as "hit the ball up the middle." Walker would then proceed to single up the middle, then break up the double play, prompting Doug Rader to remark, "Son of a bitch. Every year Harry gets a hit up the middle and breaks up the double play."

He died in 1999 in Birmingham, Alabama.

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball batting champions
* List of Major League Baseball triples champions
* List of second generation MLB players

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/walkeha01.shtml Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/walkeha01.php the "Baseball Page"]