Billy Hunter (baseball)

Born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Hunter was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 180 pounds (82 kg). He threw and batted right-handed. After attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Penn State, Hunter was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. He was sold to the St. Louis Browns of the American League on October 14, 1952, for $150,000 after leading the Texas League in fielding and stolen bases. Hunter was the starting shortstop for the last Browns club in 1953 and the first modern Baltimore Orioles team when the Brownies moved to Maryland in 1954. For the remainder of his career, however, he was a second-string infielder for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics and Cleveland Indians. Hunter batted .219 in 630 games over his six-year (1953–58) AL career.

When Hunter's playing career ended, he scouted for the Indians and Orioles, managed in the Baltimore farm system and was appointed on November 20, 1963 as the Orioles' third-base coach by former Yankees teammate Hank Bauer who had become the team's manager one day earlier.[1] He performed that role for almost 14 seasons for four AL champions and two World Series winners. In late 1971, Hunter declined a chance to become manager of the California Angels.[2]

Hunter left the Orioles on June 28, 1977, to take the helm of the Texas Rangers — the club's fourth skipper of the 1977 season (including Eddie Stanky, who signed to succeed Frank Lucchesi but returned to retirement after one game, and Connie Ryan, who managed six games in the interim between Stanky and Hunter).[3] Under Hunter, the Rangers won 60 of their final 93 games and climbed from fourth to second place in the American League West Division. In 1978 the Rangers finished tied for second, five games behind the division-leading Kansas City Royals. During the season, Hunter had a confrontation with pitcher Dock Ellis on a team bus. Ellis was later quoted saying Hunter "may be Hitler, but he ain't making no lampshade out of me."[4] After turning down a five-year contract extension in midseason,[5] offered by Rangers' young owner, Brad Corbett, Hunter was fired with one day left in the campaign due to his poor relationship with his team. When asked if he was sorry he took the manager's job, Hunter replied "yes."[6]

Hunter's record over his one-and-a-half seasons was 146–108 (.575), but he never returned to the Major Leagues as a coach or manager though he claimed to have received a half dozen job offers in the winter of 1978.[7] He became head baseball coach and athletic director at Maryland's Towson State University, retiring in 1995. He was a 1996 honoree into the Orioles Hall of Fame, inducted with Jerry Hoffberger and Cal Ripken, Sr. These three men were so well thought of in Baltimore that a crowd of 400 showed up at the luncheon at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel.[8]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)