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Clinton Clarence Hartung (August 10, 1922 – July 8, 2010), nicknamed "the Hondo Hurricane", was an American right-handed
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
and
right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
who played with the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
from 1947 to 1952.


Early years

Clinton Clarence Hartung was born in Hondo, Texas, on August 10, 1922. His hometown was the source of his nickname, "the Hondo Hurricane." He stood and weighed . His high school team won a state baseball championship in 1939.


Baseball career

Originally signed for the Minneapolis Millers, Hartung played for the Eau Claire
Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most o ...
of the Northern League for two months in 1942, hitting .358 with a .596 slugging percentage and
winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...
three games as a pitcher. He was then drafted into the Army Air Forces, where he spent the duration of World War II playing on military teams such as the Hickam Field Bombers; for the latter he went 25–0 as a pitcher and batted .567. A year before his demobilization, the Giants signed him for $35,000, a very high sum, and expectations were proportionally high: Sportswriter Tom Meany later said of him, "Rather than stop at the
Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...
they should have taken him straight to Cooperstown." Other reports hailed him as the second coming of
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...
; "he could hit a ball 700 feet and had a bazooka for an arm," James S. Hirsch summed up the exaggerations of Hartung's ability. In he finally debuted in the major leagues, but his performance under these conditions quickly proved less stellar. His first season he only managed 9–7 pitching and .306 hitting. In 1948 his stats declined to 8–8 and .179; his pitching never recovered, and was his last year in that job for the Giants, while his hitting did recover somewhat but he never achieved anything like his earlier numbers. As with some other phenoms, he was noted for doing much better in
spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
than he would in the regular season. His fielding was never good, and reportedly he was unable to hit curveballs. After 1950, he was relieved of his duties as a pitcher and was switched to the outfield—a very rare position shift in the major leagues. Hartung was the 11th player in history whose first homer in the majors was as a pitcher to later hit a home run as a position player; the previous player to do so was
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...
, but the next was not until
Rick Ankiel Richard Alexander Ankiel (; born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and pitcher. He spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but also played for the Kansas City Roya ...
repeated the feat in the 2000s. He was at least present, though passively, as the pinch runner at
third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
in the 1951 play known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World. By 1953 he was back in the minor leagues, playing for the AAA Minneapolis Millers. In 1954 and 1955, he played mostly for the Cincinnati Redlegs' AAA farm team the Havana Sugar Kings of the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
. In 1955, he also briefly played for the
Nashville Volunteers The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers (regularly shortened to Vols) ...
of the
Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...
, and the Oakland Oaks of the
Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
. He played for the Plymouth (Oil Company) Oilers, a nationally known semi-pro team in Sinton, Texas, for several years after leaving the minor leagues. The baseball statistical reference by
Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...
commemorates Hartung with its "Clint Hartung Award", for the most overhyped rookie of each decade (and honors him with one for the 1940s), and baseball-themed musician
Terry Cashman Terry Cashman (born Dennis Minogue; July 5, 1941) is an American record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, " Talkin' Baseball". While the song is well recognized today and allowed Cashman the chance to meet the feature ...
wrote a song called "The Hondo Hurricane". Hartung died at his home in Sinton, Texas July 8, 2010.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartung, Clint 1922 births 2010 deaths Baseball players from San Antonio Eau Claire Bears players Havana Sugar Kings players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball right fielders Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Nashville Vols players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Giants (baseball) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Hondo, Texas Sportspeople from Greater San Antonio People from Sinton, Texas Sportspeople from San Patricio County, Texas United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from Texas American expatriate baseball players in Cuba