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| Hal McRae | |
|---|---|
 McRae with the Kansas City Royals in 1980 | |
| Designated hitter /Outfielder /Manager | |
| Born: (1945-07-10)July 10, 1945 (age 80) Avon Park, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 11, 1968, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 17, 1987, for the Kansas City Royals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .290 |
| Hits | 2,091 |
| Home runs | 191 |
| Runs batted in | 1,097 |
| Managerial record | 399–473 |
| Winning % | .458 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Harold Abraham McRae (/məˈkreɪ/; born July 10, 1945) is an American formerleft fielder inMajor League Baseball who played for theCincinnati Reds (1968, 1970–72) andKansas City Royals (1973–87). Utilized as adesignated hitter for most of his career, McRae batted and threw right-handed. He is the father of former major league outfielderBrian McRae.
McRae was selected by the Reds in the 6th round of the 1965 draft with the 117th overall pick. In the pre-1969 offseason, playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, McRae suffered a multiple leg fracture sliding on the basepaths. In the words ofBill James inThe Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, "Before the accident, McRae was a burner, a center fielder who could fly...after the accident, his speed was major league average." He was considered a below-average outfielder with the Reds.
In spring training 1969, McRae came to the Reds' camp with his leg still in a cast from the fracture. The same offseason,St. Louis Cardinals announcerHarry Caray had suffered multiple fractures being struck by a car while on foot. During a Reds-Cardinals preseason game where Caray was interviewing ballplayers on the field while still on crutches, Reds ManagerDave Bristol pointed in Caray's direction and said to McRae, "Look at that. There's an old man. Broke two legs. Broke his shoulder. Broke his everything. And here he is walking around doing his job, doing anything he wants. Here you are, all you did was break your leg sliding into second base, and you can't get your leg out of your goddam cast! You ought to be ashamed of yourself."
McRae later mentioned to Caray that it was "one of the best motivational speeches he'd ever heard. He learned that he had to want to recover before he'd really be able to." Later in his career, Royals teammateDan Quisenberry recalled, whenever a Royals player took time off because of injury, "McRae gets dressed like a commando, hides in a trash can in the clubhouse, and then jumps out and 'shoots' the guy...McRae believes that if a guy is hurt and can't play, he's dead to the club, so McRae shoots him and kills him."
McRae was traded along withWayne Simpson to the Royals forRoger Nelson andRichie Scheinblum on December 1, 1972.[1] McRae developed as a consistent designated hitter in theAmerican League (AL). His playing career spanned 23 years, including 14 seasons with Kansas City. He was selected a three-timeAll-Star, he hit over .300 six times for the Royals and was named Designated Hitter of the Year three times both byThe Sporting News and theAssociated Press.
McRae led the AL batting title race entering the final game of the 1976 regular season which was a 5–3 loss to theMinnesota Twins atRoyals Stadium on October 3. He lost out to teammateGeorge Brett .3333 to .3326, with the race decided in the ninth inning when he grounded out to the shortstop immediately after Brett hit aninside-the-park home run to left field. He confronted Twins managerGene Mauch on the field, with both being restrained by players and umpires. McRae accused Mauch ofracism for allegedly orderingleft fielderSteve Brye to let Brett's fly ball drop in front of him. His claim was declared unsubstantiated by a post-season league investigation.[2][3] Oddly, the other two of the top four finishers that season, theMinnesota Twins'Rod Carew andLyman Bostock, played in that same game. McRae did end up leading the AL with a .407 on-base percentage. The following season, he led the majors with 54 doubles.
After his recovery from the leg fracture, McRae became known as "the most aggressive baserunner of the 1970s," as quoted by James, "a man who left home plate thinking 'double' every time he hit the ball...he taught the younger players and reminded the veterans to take nothing for granted, and to take no prisoners on the bases." In game four of the 1980 World Series, McRae twice turned a seemingly routine single to center field into a two-base hit. McRae played hard—so hard, in fact, that the rule requiring a runner to slide into second base when breaking up a double play is still referred to as the Hal McRae Rule in honor of the man whose cross-body blocks into second base broke up a lot of double plays and second basemen at the same time.
In 1982, McRae had another outstanding year as he led the majors with 46 doubles and 133 RBI. He finished fourth in ALMVP voting.
In a 19-year major league career, McRae posted a .290batting average (2091-for-7218) with 191home runs, 1097RBI, 484doubles, 65triples and 109stolen bases in 2084games played. He added a .351on-base percentage and a .454 slugging average for a combined .805OPS.
Following his playing retirement, McRaemanaged the Royals (1991–94) andTampa Bay Devil Rays (2001–02). He also served ashitting coach for theCincinnati Reds,Philadelphia Phillies, andSt. Louis Cardinals. McRae, who won aWorld Series ring playing for Kansas City against the Cardinals in1985, won a ring as a coach for the Cardinals when they defeated theDetroit Tigers in the2006 World Series, four games to one.
McRae is perhaps well known for a profanity-laced tirade he went on as Royals' manager early in the 1993 season while being interviewed by reporters after a Royals loss. The tantrum included throwing numerous objects around his office, including a cup of Coke and his office phone, and one reporter left McRae's office with a bloodied face. The tirade was captured on video and widely disseminated at the time. A video of the meltdown was later uploaded to YouTube and has 1.5 million views as of July 2024. McRae was not fired and continued to manage after the incident.[4]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| KC | 1991 | 124 | 66 | 58 | .532 | 6th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 1992 | 162 | 72 | 90 | .444 | 5th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 1993 | 162 | 84 | 78 | .519 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 1994 | 115 | 64 | 51 | .557 | 3rd in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| KC total | 563 | 286 | 277 | .508 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| TB | 2001 | 148 | 58 | 90 | .392 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | – |
| TB | 2002 | 161 | 55 | 106 | .342 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | – |
| TB total | 309 | 113 | 196 | .366 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[5] | 872 | 399 | 473 | .458 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
· Baseball Almanac| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bill Russell | Tampa Bay Devil Rays Bench Coach 2001 | Succeeded by |