Meredith Goodwin "Moe" Morhardt (born January 16, 1937) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

former

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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played parts of the

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

seasons with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, appearing in 25 major league games.Moe Morhardt
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009
Archived
12/12/09

Playing career

Morhardt attended the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, where he was a two-sport All-American in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

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 ...

, also playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

during his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year.Morhardt's Credentials earn Hall of Fame spot
at mhs1955.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009

12/12/09 After three seasons of baseball at Connecticut, Morhardt was signed by the

as an amateur free agent in summer 1959. He spent the remainder of 1959 at three minor league levels, spending most of the season with the Class D

Paris Lakers The Paris Lakers were a minor league baseball team based in Paris, Illinois from 1950 to 1959. The Lakers played as members of the Midwest League from 1956 to 1959 and its predecessor, the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League from 1950 to 1955. The L ...

. He spent all of 1960 with the Class A

Lancaster Red Roses The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named f ...

. He was assigned to the minor leagues again in 1961 and played much of the season with the Class B

Wenatchee Chiefs The Wenatchee Chiefs were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Wenatchee, Washington. Founded in 1937, the team was a part of the Class B Western International League through 1954, although the team did not opera ...

. In September, he was called up to the Cubs and made his major league debut on September 7, 1961. He appeared in seven games for the Cubs that month, starting each at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and hitting .278. Morhardt began the 1962 season with Chicago, appearing in 18 games as a pinch-hitter. After hitting .125 with the Cubs, Morhardt was sent down to the minor leagues and split the rest of the season between Class B Wenatchee and Class AA

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

. He spent 1963 and 1964 in the minor leagues before retiring from professional baseball following the 1964 season.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Morhardt was the head baseball coach at The Gilbert School in

Winsted, Connecticut Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester, Connecticut, Winchester. The population of Winsted was 7,192 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

from 1967 to 1987, also serving, at times, as the school's boys' soccer coach, boys' basketball coach, and athletic director. As head baseball coach, Morhardt had a record of 299–134, winning eight league titles and four Class M state championships. Starting prior to the 1988 season, Morhardt coached for seven seasons for the

Hartford Hawks The Hartford Hawks are the NCAA Division III athletic teams of the University of Hartford, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Overview Division III On May 6, 2 ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

team, serving as an assistant from 1988 to 1992 and head coach from 1993 to 1994. From 1997 to 1999, he was the head coach of the Western Connecticut Colonials baseball team.Morhardt honored for his passion, love of the game
at ctsports.homestead.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009

12/12/09 Morhardt also spent time as the head coach of the

Danbury Westerners The Danbury Westerners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Danbury, Connecticut. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays their home games at Rogers Park. The team played its inaugural season in 1995 ...

of the

New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...

, coaching the team from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

–

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

.Whalen, Goslin join new-look Westerners
at cmf.newstimes.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009
Archived
12/20/09 Morhardt was elected to the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame on May 20, 1980.

Personal life

Morhardt had three sons and one daughter, Kyle, Darryl, Greg and Wendy. Darryl played baseball professional in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

farm system before transitioning to coaching. Greg played professionally in the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

systems before transitioning to coaching. As a scout for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

, Greg Morhardt was credited with discovering

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is an 11-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star, three-time American League (A ...

as a high school baseball player.

Head coaching record

NCAA

Collegiate summer baseball

NECBL

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morhardt, Moe 1937 births Living people All-American college baseball players American men's basketball players Baseball coaches from Connecticut Chicago Cubs players Fort Worth Cats players Hartford Hawks baseball coaches High school baseball coaches in the United States Lancaster Red Roses players Major League Baseball first basemen Paris Lakers players Sportspeople from Manchester, Connecticut Baseball players from Hartford County, Connecticut Salt Lake City Bees players San Antonio Missions players UConn Huskies baseball players UConn Huskies men's basketball players UConn Huskies men's soccer players Western Connecticut Wolves baseball coaches Wenatchee Chiefs players Men's association football players not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality 20th-century American sportsmen