Athletes - Fred Hutchinson

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	Athletes - Fred Hutchinson

Frederick Charles Hutchinson (August 12, 1919 – November 12, 1964) was an American pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball. Stricken with fatal lung cancer at the zenith of his managerial career as leader of the pennant-contending Cincinnati Reds, he was commemorated one year after his death when his brother, Dr. William Hutchinson, created the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as a division of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, in the Hutchinsons’ native city of Seattle, Washington. The FHCRC, which became independent in 1972, is now one of the best-known facilities of its kind in the world.

Fred Hutchinson, known throughout baseball as “Hutch,” attended the University of Washington. A right-handed pitcher, he entered the organized baseball ranks in 1938 with the independent Seattle Rainiers of the AA Pacific Coast League and caused an immediate sensation at age 19, winning a league-best 25 games and that season’s Minor League Player of the Year award as bestowed by The Sporting News. After his contract was purchased by the Detroit Tigers of the American League, Hutchinson struggled in his early major league career with a 6-13 record and an earned-run average of 5.43 during the 1939-41 seasons. His ineffectiveness caused his return to the minor leagues in each season. In 1941, at Buffalo of the AA International League, he enjoyed another stellar campaign, leading the league in victories (26) and innings pitched (284). A successful major league career seemed to await Hutchinson, then 22, when the U.S. entered World War II. He saw active duty in the U.S. Navy, rose to the rank of lieutenant commander, and lost four full seasons to military service.

In 1946, Hutchinson – approaching 27 – returned to baseball with a vengeance, winning a place in the defending World Series champion Tigers’ starting rotation and beginning a string of six straight campaigns of ten or more wins, including seasons of 18 (1947) and 17 victories (1950). He was selected to the 1951 American League All-Star team, and pitched three innings of the junior loop’s 8-3 loss at Hutchinson’s home park, Briggs Stadium. Overall, Hutchinson compiled a 95-71 career record over 11 seasons, all with Detroit – a stellar mark considering his early-career mishaps. He was known as a good teammate and a ferocious competitor, who once reportedly shattered every light bulb from the dugout to the clubhouse after being lifted from a ballgame. He also was one of the best-hitting pitchers of his time; a left-handed batter, he frequently pinch-hit and batted over .300 four times during his major league career. On a dubious note, he is also recalled as the pitcher who gave up the longest home run in Ted Williams' career, a 502-foot blast in 1946 that broke the straw hat of a startled fan sitting in Fenway Park’s right-center-field bleachers. The seat where the home run landed has been painted red since to mark the long ball.

A slow decline in Hutchinson’s pitching career coincided with an alarming drop in the fortunes of his usually contending Tigers. On July 5, 1952, with Detroit in the surprising position of last place, the club fired manager Red Rolfe and handed the job to Hutchinson, still an active player and five weeks shy of his 33rd birthday. Hutchinson was chosen based on his leadership skills; he had been the AL’s Player Representative since 1947. Hutchinson managed the Tigers for the next 2 1/2 years, guiding them from their eighth (last)-place finish in 1952 to sixth and fifth place during the next two seasons. His reign included the debut of future Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline. However, Detroit’s ownership and front office were in flux and, at the end of 1954, Hutchinson was fired as manager and replaced by the veteran Bucky Harris. It marked the end of a 16-year association with the Tigers.

Out of the major leagues for the first time since 1941, Hutchinson went home to Seattle and the Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, becoming their manager in 1955. Even though the club did not enjoy a major league affiliation, Hutchinson led Seattle to a 95-77 record and a first place finish. His success led to his second major league managerial job when he replaced Harry Walker as skipper of the St. Louis Cardinals for the 1956 season. The Cardinals, one of baseball's storied franchises, had fallen into the second division. With general manager “Frantic” Frank Lane constantly revamping the roster through trades and Hutchinson’s steady hand at the helm, the Cardinals improved by eight games in 1956, and catapulted to second place in 1957, behind only the eventual world champion Milwaukee Braves. Hutchinson was named National League Manager of the Year, and his popularity in the Mound City resulted in a new nickname, “The Big Bear,” bestowed by Cardinal broadcaster Joe Garagiola. However, Lane's departure from the St. Louis front office and the Cardinals’ disappointing 1958 season resulted in Hutchinson’s dismissal that September, with the team six games below .500 and in fifth place.

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Athletes - Fred Hutchinson

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