Irvin Victor "Fuzzy" Hufft (August 2, 1901 – October 28, 1973) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played in 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 ...

for the

Seattle Indians Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

Mission Reds The Mission Reds were a Minor League Baseball team located in San Francisco, California, that played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1926 through 1937. First Missions team In early September of 1914, the failed Sacramento Solons team moved ...

, and

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: *Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey te ...

from 1926 to 1932. He is a member of the PCL Hall of Fame.

Career

Hufft began playing baseball as a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. He signed with the

Springfield Midgets The Springfield Midgets were a minor league baseball team that played from 1903 to 1904 in the Missouri Valley League and from 1906 to 1909 and 1921 to 1930 in the Western Association. Based in Springfield, Missouri, they were affiliated with the St ...

of the Class C

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

late in the 1923 season due to an injury to Runt Marr and made his professional debut as a

third baseman 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 Baseball scorekeep ...

. He returned to Springfield for the 1924 season, but new

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Boss Schmidt Charles "Boss" Schmidt (September 12, 1880 – November 14, 1932) was an American baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) A native of Arkansas, Schmidt played professional baseball from 1901 to 1926, including si ...

decided to play Hufft as an

. He hit well for the Midgets, but was released in May because of his poor fielding. Hufft played for the Arkansas City Osages of the Class D

Southwestern League The Southwestern League was the name of four former minor league baseball leagues that operated in the Southwestern United States. The second league, also known as the ''Oklahoma State League'', was in operation for the 1904 season. The third ...

for the remainder of the 1924 season. He began the 1925 season with Arkansas City, but in August, he was suspended by the club for the remainder of the season due to a run-in with team officials. The team subsequently sold Hufft to the

Wichita Izzies Wichita ( ) may refer to: People *Wichita people, a Native American tribe *Wichita language, the language of the tribe Places in the United States * Wichita, Kansas, a city located in Sedgwick County * Wichita County, Kansas, a county in wester ...

of the Class A Western League. Hufft was sold to the

of the

(PCL) for the 1926 season. With his strong play at the beginning of the season, Seattle made him the starting

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 ...

, relegating Brick Eldred to being a

bench player In team sports, substitution (or interchange) is replacing one player with another during a match. Substitute players that are not in the starting lineup (also known as bench players, backups, interchange, or reserves) reside on the bench and are ...

. He finished the 1926 season with a .311

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and 16

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in 165 games. During the 1928 season, the Indians traded Hufft to the

for Eddie Bryan. For Seattle and Mission, he batted .371 for the 1928 season and hit 29 home runs, the third-most in the league. Hufft batted .356 in the 1930 season. During the 1931 season, he was benched by the Missions, and then sold to the

for ($ in current dollar terms). He had a .343 batting average for the 1931 season. The Oaks sold Hufft to the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

of the American Association in August 1932. The Indians released Hufft in April 1933. He signed with the

Oklahoma City Indians The Oklahoma City Indians was the primary name of an American professional baseball team representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1904 though 1957, except for 1913 and three seasons during World War II. The team played in several different minor ...

of the Class A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in May 1933, but was released a week later. He then caught on with the

Galveston Buccaneers The Galveston Buccaneers were a Minor League Baseball team that existed from 1931 to 1937. Based in Galveston, Texas, United States, they played in the Texas League. Their home ballpark was Moody Stadium. Notable players include Del Pratt, Beau B ...

of the Texas League for the remainder of the 1933 season. During the 1933–34 offseason, Hufft suffered a

compound fracture An open fracture, also called a compound fracture, is a type of bone fracture (broken bone) that has an open wound in the skin near the fractured bone. The skin wound is usually caused by the bone breaking through the surface of the skin. An open fr ...

of his left leg between his ankle and knee in an automobile collision, and doctors feared that they might need to amputate. Though his leg was saved, he was unable to play in 1934. The Buccaneers hosted a benefit game for Hufft in March 1934 that raised ($ in current dollar terms) for him. Out of organized baseball, Hufft managed a semi-professional team in Galveston in 1935. In the PCL, Hufft recorded 1,446

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

with a .346 batting average, 166 home runs, and 902

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

. He was inducted into the PCL Hall of Fame in 2007.

Personal life

Hufft received his nickname from a Sunday school teacher, who referred to his unkempt hair as "fuzzy". After the 1925 season, Hufft was arrested for stealing two cases of cigarettes. He was convicted of

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...

and sentenced to two years in prison. However, he was granted

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

in December. Hufft married Jean Hainsworth in December 1928.

References

External links

Fuzzy Hufft: Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hufft, Fuzzy 1901 births 1973 deaths People from Lebanon, Missouri Baseball players from Missouri Baseball outfielders Parsons Parsons players Cushing Oilers players Springfield Midgets players Arkansas City Osages players Wichita Izzies players Seattle Indians players Mission Reds players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Indianapolis Indians players Oklahoma City Indians players Galveston Buccaneers players Drumright Oilers players 20th-century American sportsmen