| Fred Hatfield | |
|---|---|
 HatfieldCirca 1953. | |
| Third baseman | |
| Born:(1925-03-18)March 18, 1925 Lanett, Alabama, U.S. | |
| Died: May 22, 1998(1998-05-22) (aged 73) Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 31, 1950, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 13, 1958, for the Cincinnati Redlegs | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .242 |
| Home runs | 23 |
| Runs batted in | 165 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
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Fred James Hatfield (March 18, 1925 – May 22, 1998), nicknamed "Scrap Iron",[1] was an AmericanMajor League Baseballinfielder who played nine seasons in the Major Leagues with theBoston Red Sox (1950–52),Detroit Tigers (1952–56),Chicago White Sox (1956–57),Cleveland Indians (1958) andCincinnati Redlegs (1958). He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 171 pounds (78 kg).
Born inLanett, Alabama, Hatfield attendedBirmingham–Southern College andTroy State College before Hatfield was signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1942. As a big-leaguer, Hatfield played in 722 games and had a careerbatting average of .242 with anon-base percentage of .332. He had 493 hits, 248 bases on balls, and 165RBIs.
Hatfield played in the infield, with 408 games at third base, 179 games at second base, and 27 games at shortstop.
Hatfield was among theAmerican League leaders in beinghit by pitch in 1952, 1954, 1956, and 1957. He was also among the league leaders in 1955 forsacrifice hits and intentional walks.
As his playing career wound down in theminor leagues in the late 1950s, Hatfield became aprofessional baseballmanager andcoach, and a college baseball coach. He skippered teams in the minors for 16 years between 1960 and 1986, spent two seasons (1977–78) as the third-base coach onRalph Houk's Detroit Tigers staff, and five years (1964–68) as head baseball coach of theFlorida State Seminoles, where he posted a 161–57 (.739) record. He was posthumously inducted into theFlorida State University Hall of Fame in 1999.[2]
Hatfield died in 1998 at age 73 inTallahassee, Florida.
· Baseball Almanac, orRetrosheet, orSABR Biography Project, orDeadBall Era ObituaryArchived 2016-11-14 at theWayback Machine| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Detroit Tigersthird-base coach 1977–1978 | Succeeded by |
