| Harry Craft | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Center fielder /Manager | |
| Born:(1915-04-19)April 19, 1915 Ellisville, Mississippi, U.S. | |
| Died: August 3, 1995(1995-08-03) (aged 80) Conroe, Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 19, 1937, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 14, 1942, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .253 |
| Home runs | 44 |
| Runs batted in | 267 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager
As coach
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Harry Francis Craft (April 19, 1915 – August 3, 1995) was an AmericanMajor League Baseball player andmanager. Born inEllisville, Mississippi, he was acenter fielder for theCincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1942. Craft attendedMississippi College, threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
From 1962 through September 18, 1964, Craft was the first manager inHouston's Major League history as skipper of theexpansionHouston Colt .45s, later theAstros. Earlier, he managed theKansas City Athletics (August 6, 1957–1959) and he was the "head coach" of theChicago Cubs (April 26–May 10 and June 2–4, 1961).
A top-flight defensive outfielder, Craft was an average hitter in his short career. His best season came, basically, as a rookie (he had 42at bats the previous season) in 1938. On June 15 of that year, Craft caught the ninth-inning pop fly (batted byLeo Durocher) to make the final out in the historic game that gaveJohnny Vander Meer his second consecutive no-hitter. That same season, Craft batted a solid .270 as the Reds' everyday center fielder with 15home runs and 83RBIs in 151 games. He had 165hits that season in 612 at bats. All those numbers ended up being career-highs. The next two years were Cincinnati's best seasons as they went to theWorld Series in both, winning in1940 against theDetroit Tigers. However, Craft did not play a large part in the victory, having only 1 at bat. He ended up with just one postseason hit, which came the year before.
On June 8, 1940, hehit for the cycle in a 23–2 win over theBrooklyn Dodgers. Craft joined the Navy in 1943.
In six seasons, Craft had an all-time .253 batting average with 533 hits, 85doubles, 25triples, 44 home runs and 267 RBIs. He accumulated 14stolen bases and 237runs scored. His lifetimefielding percentage was .986.
Craft began his managing career in thefarm system of theNew York Yankees in 1949. That season, he wasMickey Mantle's first manager in professional baseball with theIndependence Yankees of theKansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League. In 1950, Craft managed Mantle again with theJoplin Miners in theWestern Association.[1] Eventually, Craft progressed to theTriple-A level with theKansas City Blues of theAmerican Association in 1953–1954.
"I was lucky to have Harry as skipper my first two years", Mantle said years later. "He started me out right."[1] Craft would also manageRoger Maris at the Major League level in 1958–1959 with the Kansas City Athletics, just before the young right fielder was traded to the Yankees. Maris credited Craft with helping him with his hitting.
Craft went from the minor league Blues to the Major League Athletics in 1955, their first year inKansas City after transferring fromPhiladelphia, when he was named acoach on the staff ofLou Boudreau. After over2+1⁄2 losing seasons, Boudreau was released on August 6, 1957, and Craft was named his successor.[2] Craft's Athletics went 23–27 to finish the1957 season. He then lasted two more full campaigns,1958 and1959, before his firing. Craft finished with a 162–196 record at Kansas City. His best finish was seventh place in the eight-teamAmerican League.
A year after joining the coaching staff of the 1960 Chicago Cubs, Craft became a member of Cubs' ownerPhil Wrigley's ill-fatedCollege of Coaches. From 1961 to 1965, the team had no permanent manager, and rotated the "head coach" job among its coaching staff. Craft led the Cubs for 16 games in1961, coming out 7–9 as one of four head coaches that year.
During 1961, Craft briefly returned to managing in the minors for theTriple-AHouston Buffs of the American Association. He would be the last manager for the minor-league Buffs, before being promoted to become the first skipper of Houston's Major Leagueexpansion team when theHouston Colt .45s entered theNational League in 1962.[3]
Craft managed the Colt .45s from1962 to1964, before his replacement byLum Harris in the closing days of the 1964 season.[4] In his first season, the Colt .45s finished in eighth place in the ten-team league with a 64–96–2 record, but six full games ahead of the ninth-place Cubs, then in their 87th year in the NL. But in 1963 and 1964, the Colt .45s fell into ninth place, ahead of only their expansion brethren, theNew York Mets.
Craft ended 191–280 with the Colt .45s, never having managed an above .500 team in all or parts of seven seasons as a major league manager. He remained in the game, however, as ascout and farm system official for theBaltimore Orioles,San Francisco Giants and the Yankees, retiring in 1991.
Craft ended his managing career with a 360–485 record in 849 games, a .426winning percentage. His best finish was seventh place. The authors of one baseball book had this to say about Craft's career, perhaps unfairly given what little he had to work with on those clubs: "Of course, if you are really lousy at what you do, there's always a chance you can work your way into management, that being the American Way... Harry Craft managed three teams in a seven year span... They finished 7th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 9th. Do I detect a trend in there somewhere?"[5]
Harry Craft died after a long illness inConroe, Texas, at the age of 80 on Thursday, August 3, 1995.[6][7]
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle June 8, 1940 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Kansas City Athleticsmanager 1957–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago Cubshead coach April 26–May 10, 1961 June 2–4, 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Franchise established | Houston Colt .45smanager 1962–1964 | Succeeded by |