George Hendrick
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George Andrew Hendrick Jr. (born October 18, 1949) is an American former professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player and
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
. He played 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 ...
as an
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 ...
between and , most prominently as an integral member of the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
team that won the
1982 World Series The 1982 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1982 season. The 79th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals and the ...
. A four-time
All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...
and a two-time
Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best Batting (baseball), offensive player at each Baseball positions, position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (baseball), National League (NL), as determ ...
winner, Hendrick led the major leagues with 20 outfield assists in and, led the Cardinals in
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 every year from through . He also won a World Series with the
Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
in and was a member of the 1986 California Angels division-winning team. He also played for 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
,
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
and the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
. Hendrick is currently the special advisor to baseball operations for the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...
.


Playing career

Over 18 seasons, Hendrick posted a .278
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 ...
with 267 
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 and 1,111 RBI. His career stats included 941 runs, 1,980
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 ...
, 343  doubles, 59
stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...
s, 567 walks, .329
on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...
and a .446
slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...
in 7,129
at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...
. Playing at all three outfield positions and first base, he compiled a .987
fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...
. Hendrick began his baseball career in the minor leagues with Burlington in 1968, leading the league with a .327 batting average and 25 doubles. He was an all-star four times—twice with Cleveland in 1974 and 1975 and twice with St. Louis in 1980 and 1983—and he finished in the top 15 in league MVP voting four consecutive years between 1980 and 1983. Hendrick was one of the first players to hit 100 home runs in each league—150 for the National League and 117 for the American League. He was the first MLB player to wear his pant legs down to his ankles. He was nicknamed "Jogging George" and "Captain Easy" because of his reputation for not running plays out or giving 100% effortMarkusen, Bruce (January 20, 2012)
1972 Topps Baseball Card
''Hardball Times''. Retrieved on March 2, 2016.
and "Silent George" because of his longstanding policy of not talking to the media. Angels beat reporter Lisa Nehus Saxon, one of the first women to cover an MLB team, credited Hendrick for protecting her from
Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...
's harassment and verbal abuse. Hendrick played winter ball with the Cangrejeros de Santurce club of the Puerto Rico League, where he won the batting title in the 1973−1974 tournament. He also played for the
Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...
of the
Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...
in its 1989 inaugural season.


Transactions involving Hendrick

*On March 24, 1973, the
Oakland A's Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
traded Hendrick, with catcher Dave Duncan, 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
for catcher
Ray Fosse Raymond Earl Fosse (April 4, 1947 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as an All-Star ...
and shortstop Jack Heidemann. *On December 8, 1976, the Indians traded him to the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
for outfielder John Grubb, catcher
Fred Kendall Fred Lyn Kendall (born January 31, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach who appeared in 877 games, primarily as a catcher, in Major League Baseball from to for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians and Boston Re ...
, and infielder Héctor Torres. *On May 26, 1978, the Padres traded Hendrick to the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
for pitcher Eric Rasmussen. *On December 12, 1984, the Cardinals traded him, with catcher Steve Barnard, to the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
for pitcher John Tudor and outfielder Brian Harper. *On August 2, 1985, the Pirates traded Hendrick, along with
John Candelaria John Robert Candelaria (born November 6, 1953) is a Puerto Rican-American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "the Candy Man", he played in MLB during the years 1975–1993 for eight teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates, California Angels, ...
and Al Holland, to the
California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...
for Pat Clements, Mike Brown and a player to be named later (
Bob Kipper Robert Wayne Kipper (born July 8, 1964) is an American professional baseball coach and a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. He has also spent two terms (all of the 2002 season, and part of the 2015 season) as bullpen coach of MLB's Bos ...
).


Coaching career

Hendrick began his coaching career with the Cardinals as a minor league hitting/outfield instructor from 1993 to 1995 before becoming the hitting coach of the big league club from 1996 to 1997. After leaving the Cardinals, he worked as coach at various levels in the California Angels and
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
systems from 1998 to 2005. On November 21, 2005, Hendrick was named as a first base/outfield coach for Tampa Bay, a position he held through the end of the 2014 season. He then became Special Advisor to Baseball Operations for the Rays.


Personal life

His son, Brian, played
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
for the
California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...
.


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders This is a list of the 300 Major League Baseball players who have hit the most career home runs in regular season play (i.e., excluding playoffs or exhibition games). In the sport of baseball, a home run is a hit in which the batter scores by ci ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders This is a list of Major League Baseball players who have compiled 1,000 runs batted in (RBIs). RBIs are usually accumulated when a batter in baseball enables a runner on base (including himself, in the case of a home run) to score as a result of m ...
*
List of St. Louis Cardinals team records The St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball Professional sports league organization#The system developed in baseball, franchise based in St. Louis, Missouri, compete in the National League (baseball), National League (NL) of Major League Base ...
* List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches


References


External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrick, George 1949 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players American League All-Stars Anaheim Angels coaches Baseball players from Los Angeles Birmingham A's players Burlington Bees players California Angels players Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Cleveland Indians players Gold Coast Suns (baseball) players Iowa Oaks players John C. Fremont High School alumni Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente outfielders Lodi Crushers players Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Major League Baseball right fielders Minor league baseball managers National League All-Stars Oakland Athletics players Pittsburgh Pirates players San Diego Padres players Silver Slugger Award winners St. Louis Cardinals coaches St. Louis Cardinals players Tampa Bay Devil Rays coaches Tampa Bay Rays coaches 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen