Granville Wilbur "Granny" Hamner (April 26, 1927 – September 12, 1993) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and second baseman in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Hamner was one of the key players on the "Whiz Kids", the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Career

Hamner was born in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Benedictine High School. His brother Garvin was also an infielder in the big leagues. "Granny" spent years with the Phillies, having come to the club as a 17-year-old during World War II. In 1945, still seventeen, he became the youngest player ever to start an Opening Day game, a record that still stands as of 2022. By the Phillies' 1950 NL pennant season, he was one of the team leaders, age 23. A right-handed hitting shortstop with moderate power, Hamner compiled more than 80

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI) four times. In the

1950 World Series The 1950 World Series was the 47th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and the New York Yankees, as 1950 Amer ...

, a four-game

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

sweep dominated by Yankee pitchers, Hamner batted .429 (6 for 14) with three extra-base hits. In March 1952,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Eddie Sawyer named Hamner

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

of the Phillies. An All-Star three years in a row, Hamner was the National League's starting shortstop in the 1952 All-Star Game, played on his home field,

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

, in Philadelphia. The game was called off after five innings due to rain. On May 16, , Hamner was traded to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, but he batted only .164 for the remainder of the campaign. Hamner then became a

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

’ Minor League Baseball (MiLB), manager, reappearing briefly with the A's as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

during the 1962 season. (He had begun dabbling on the mound for the 1956-57 Phillies). But the change did not prolong Hamner's playing career. He briefly managed in the Phils' farm system in the 1970s and 1980s. In 17 major league seasons, Hamner compiled a .262 batting average with 104 home runs. As a pitcher, he was winless with two losses, with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 5.40, in seven games, and innings pitched.

Later life

In 1980, Hamner was one of several drivers who were able to stop their vehicles on the

Sunshine Skyway Bridge The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

before reaching the gap in the roadway caused by the collapse of a span after the freighter MV '' Summit Venture'' collided with the bridge. In 1981, Hamner was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

. On September 12, 1993, Hamner died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at age 66 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamner, Granny 1927 births 1993 deaths Binghamton Triplets managers Binghamton Triplets players Cleveland Indians players Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball shortstops National League All-Stars Norfolk Tides managers Philadelphia Phillies players Portsmouth-Norfolk Tides players Reading Phillies managers Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Utica Blue Sox players

Career

Later life

Notes

Further reading

External links