- Frankie Hayes
Infobox MLB retired
name=Frankie Hayes
position=Catcher
bgcolor1=#003831
bgcolor2=#003831
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=October 13 ,1914
deathdate=death date and age|1955|6|22|1914|10|13
debutdate=September 21
debutyear=1933
debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics
finaldate=May 17
finalyear=1947
finalteam=Boston Red Sox
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.259
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=119
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=628
teams=
*Philadelphia Athletics (by|1933-by|1942, by|1944-by|1945)
*St. Louis Browns (by|1942-by|1943)
*Cleveland Indians (by|1945-by|1946)
*Chicago White Sox (by|1946)
*Boston Red Sox (by|1947)
highlights=
*All star 1939-1941, 1944-1946Frank Witman Hayes (
October 13 ,1914 -June 22 ,1955 ) was an Americancatcher inMajor 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 , andBoston Red Sox , playing his entire career in theAmerican League .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 run s 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. Hisstolen 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. Fact|date=March 2007For 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 forSam 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 581at bat s. 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 inPoint Pleasant, 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.
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 infielding percentage ,putout s,double play s, and once in assists as a catcher
*OnJuly 25 ,1936 , he tied the major league record with four doubles in a game
*Drove in and scored the only run of one of teammateBob Feller 'sno-hitter s, with his home run in the 9th inningources
*baseball-reference|id=h/hayesfr01
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