| Billy Hunter | |
|---|---|
 Hunter on a 1954 baseball card | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born:(1928-06-04)June 4, 1928 Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: July 3, 2025(2025-07-03) (aged 97) Lutherville, Maryland, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 14, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 1958, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .219 |
| Home runs | 16 |
| Runs batted in | 144 |
| Managerial record | 146–108 |
| Winning % | .575 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Gordon William Hunter (June 4, 1928 – July 3, 2025) was an Americanbaseball player,coach andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Ashortstop, he was the last surviving player of theSt. Louis Browns and the 1954 inaugural season of the modernBaltimore Orioles. Hunter was a reserve shortstop on the1956 World Series winning New York Yankees, and third base coach on Baltimore Orioles teams that won the World Series in1966 and1970.
Hunter was born inPunxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 1928. He grew up inIndiana, Pennsylvania and attended Indiana High School.[1][2][3] In 1947, he attended Indiana State Teachers College (nowIndiana University of Pennsylvania). In 1948, he transferred toPennsylvania State University (Penn State) on a baseball and football scholarship, where he played as aT-formationquarterback.[1]
Hunter was listed as 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 180 pounds (82 kg). He threw and battedright-handed.[4] After attending college, Hunter was signed by theBrooklyn Dodgers in 1948.[1] He spent five years in Brooklyn's minor league system, with his best year coming in 1952 with theFort Worth Cats of theDouble-ATexas League. He hit for a .285batting average,[5] had 75runs batted in and 24stolen bases,[1] and led the Texas League in double plays (135) and stolen bases.[6] He was chosen the Texas League's Most Valuable Player.[7]
The Dodgers hadPee Wee Reese at shortstop, however, and it was unlikely Hunter would move up to replace Reese.[8] He was traded to theSt. Louis Browns of theAmerican League (AL) on October 14, 1952, for three players (Ray Coleman,Stan Rojek, andBob Mahoney), along with a $95,000 payment to the Dodgers.[1][9] It was also reported at the time the Browns paid the equivalent of $150,000.[6] His manager with the Browns wasMarty Marion, who had been the National League's premier fielding shortstop with theSt. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s, and had been Hunter's boyhood idol; and Hunter impressed Marion with his fielding for the Browns.[8] Hunter was the starting shortstop for the last Browns club in 1953 (and hit the team's final home run). He also made theAmerican League All Star team that year. His lone Browns all-star teammate wasSatchel Paige, and while he did not play the field or bat in the game, he was apinch-runner forMickey Mantle.[10][1] He played 152 games at shortstop, leading all AL shortstops in assists with 512, as well as in errors with 25; and was fourth among shortstops infielding percentage (.970).[4][11] With the death ofEd Mickelson on June 27, 2025, Hunter became the last living St. Louis Brown.[12][13][14]
Hunter was the first shortstop on the modernBaltimore Orioles team when the Browns moved to Maryland in 1954;[15] he was the last living player from the 1954 Orioles prior to his death in 2025.[16] He started a majority of the Orioles games at shortstop, and hit a career high .243.[4][17] He was part of a multi-player trade between the Orioles andNew York Yankees in November 1954. Among others, the Yankees also received pitchersBob Turley (who would pitch in 15 World Series games for the Yankees)[18] andDon Larsen (who pitched aperfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series),[19] and the Orioles receivedGene Woodling,Gus Triandos (who became the Orioles starting catcher for the next seven years),[20] andWilly Miranda (who replaced Hunter at shortstop).[21][9] For the remainder of his career, however, Hunter was a second-string infielder for the Yankees,Kansas City Athletics, andCleveland Indians.[4]
Hunter played 98 games at shortstop for the Yankees in 1955, hitting .228 in 255 at bats. He was assigned to the YankeesTriple-A affiliateDenver Bears in August, where he played in only 12 games before suffering a fractured leg.[5][22] He was a member of the1956 Yankees championship team for the season, but played in only 39 games and did not get into any of theseven world series games.[15][1][23]
Before the 1957 season, the Yankees traded Hunter along withIrv Noren,Milt Graff,Mickey McDermott,Tom Morgan,Rip Coleman, and a player to be named later to the Kansas City Athletics forArt Ditmar,Bobby Shantz,Jack McMahan,Wayne Belardi, and two players to be named later, one of whom wasClete Boyer.[9] The Athletics andNew York Yankees were frequent trading partners in the late 1950s, after a business friend of Yankees' ownerDan Topping bought the A's fromConnie Mack's family in 1954.[24] In 1957, Hunter started atsecond base for the A's, but hit only .191 in 116 games.[25] In June 1958, the A's traded him to the Cleveland Indians forChico Carrasquel.[9] In this, his final major league season, his combined batting average was .186 in 98 games played.[4]
Hunterbatted .219 with 16home runs, and 144RBI in 630games over his six-year (1953–58) AL career.[4][26] His final year of professional baseball was with theSan Diego Padres of thePacific Coast League in 1959.[5]
When Hunter finished his playing career, hescouted for the Indians and Orioles.[1] He managed theBluefield Orioles toAppalachian League championships in 1962 and 1963.[26] Hunter was promoted to third base coach for Baltimore on November 20, 1963, by his former Yankees teammateHank Bauer, who had become the team's manager one day earlier.[27] Bauer was fired in 1968, but new Orioles managerEarl Weaver kept Hunter on as his third base coach.[1] He performed that role for almost 14 seasons for four AL champions and twoWorld Series winners (1966 and1970).[28][1][29][30] When Weaver was ejected in game 4 of the1969 World Series, Hunter filled in as manager.[1] Hunter declined an offer from former Orioles general managerHarry Dalton to manage theCalifornia Angels on November 23, 1971.[31]
Hunter departed from the Orioles on June 27, 1977, to become theTexas Rangers' fourth managerthat season, succeedingConnie Ryan, who had served in the interim for six games. His appointment ended the Rangers' search for a new manager, which had begun five days prior withFrank Lucchesi's dismissal, followed byEddie Stanky's one-game stint.[32][26] Despite the team trailing by5+1⁄2 games in fifth place in theAL West, he stated upon his arrival, "I am accepting this job because I think the Texas Rangers have a contending team."[26] Under Hunter, the Rangers won 60 of their final 93 games and climbed from fifth to second place. He lost out in manager of the year voting to Earl Weaver.[33][1]
In 1978, the Rangers finished tied for second, five games behind the division-winningKansas City Royals.[34] During the season, Hunter had a confrontation withpitcherDock Ellis on a team bus. Ellis was later quoted saying Hunter "may beHitler, but he ain't making no lampshade out of me."[35] After turning down a five-year contract extension in midseason,[36] offered by Rangers' ownerBrad 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."[37] Just one year earlier, first basemanMike Hargrove had called Hunter "'a perfect blend of knowing how to handle people, plus knowing the game.'"[1]
Hunter's record over his one-and-a-half seasons was 146–108 (.575),[38] 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.[39] He became head baseball coach (1979-1988) and athletic director (1984-1995) at Maryland'sTowson State University, retiring in 1995.[15] During his time as athletic director the men’s lacrosse team went to theNCAA championship game and the men’s basketball team twice reached the NCAA tournament. Also while athletic director, he served as president of theEast Coast Conference andBig South Conference.[15]
Hunter died inLutherville, Maryland on July 3, 2025, at age 97.[40] At the time of his death, Hunter was the last living member of the St. Louis Browns and the1954 Baltimore Orioles.[41][42][43]
Hunter was a 1996 honoree into the Orioles Hall of Fame,[15] inducted withJerry Hoffberger andCal Ripken, Sr.[44] These three men were so well thought of inBaltimore that a crowd of 400 showed up at the luncheon at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel.[45] In 1998, he was inducted into the Towson University Hall of Fame.[15]
| Preceded by | Baltimore Oriolesthird-base coach 1964–1977 | Succeeded by |