Books and articles about Fred Hutchinson

One writer said Hutchinson looked like a man who had just lost an argument to an umpire - something Hutchinson often did. He was hot-tempered, given to tossing furniture about the clubhouse and smashing light bulbs after frustrating defeats. But he was extremely well-liked as a player, and as a manager, commanded love and veneration from his players.

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Hutchinson was an aggressive, relentless, and smart pitcher, but did not have overwhelming speed. His career with Detroit was interrupted by four years in the Navy, but he returned in 1946 and had five consecutive winning campaigns, averaging 15 victories a season. A lifetime .263 hitter, he was used 91 times in the pinch, with four home runs - one of them his last hit, in 1953. For several years he was the AL player representative.

Hutchinson replaced Red Rolfe as Detroit manager in mid-1952. He left after the 1954 season because the Tigers would not give him more than a one-year contract. From 1956 through 1958, he managed the Cardinals. Cincinnati's Frank Lane explained why he hired Hutchinson in 1959: "When I was general manager of the White Sox and Hutch was at Detroit, I went looking for him in Chicago one night to talk about something. I found him in a hotel room with several players, explaining the cutoff play on a blackboard. He was the first manager I ever knew who believed in night school. That impressed me."

Hutchinson won one pennant with the Reds, in 1961, but lost the World Series to the Yankees. He battled cancer until he was forced to resign in August of 1964. Named as a coach for the '64 All-Star Game, he moved with great effort and pain, but would not miss it. The Reds went on to finish second. When Hutchinson died at age 45 that November 12, he was voted Most Courageous Athlete and was honored by several chapters of the Baseball Writers Association with fundraising events for cancer research. (NLM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » December 12, 1938: The Tigers buy PCL pitching sensation Fred Hutchinson from Seattle for cash and four players. » May 2, 1939: After carrying out the scorecard to the umpires, Lou Gehrig voluntarily benches himself "for the good of the team." He is batting .143 with one RBI. His consecutive-game string stops at 2,130. Babe Dahlgren, his replacement, has a homer and double, as the Yankees rout Detroit 22–2. New York bats around in three innings to make it easy for Red Ruffing. Ballyhooed Tiger teenager Fred Hutchinson makes his major league debut and the Yankees light him up for eight runs in 2/3 of an inning. Hutch gives up four hits and walks five. » April 23, 1947: At Detroit, the Tigers use consecutive solo homers in the 8th from Roy Cullenbine, Dick Wakefield, and Hoot Evers to beat the White Sox, 7–4. Cullenbine adds an earlier homer and Eddie Lake adds a 5th Bengal blast to back Fred Hutchinson's win over Eddie Lopat. » July 18, 1947: Freddie Hutchinson of the Tigers shuts out the Yankees 8-0, stopping their winning streak at 19. » August 6, 1947: Can a pinch runner drive in a run? Skeeter Webb of the Tigers takes the paths for Freddie Hutchinson against the Indians and scores. Detroit bats around, and Webb lifts a fly ball that scores a run in the 9-run 8th. Stubby Overmire wins, 13–6 in the first of 2. Detroit sweeps, winning the nitecap, 7–5 behind Fred Hutchinson. » August 29, 1947: In St. Louis, Freddie Hutchinson does it all for Detroit, whipping the Browns, 5–4. After tripling against Ellis Kinder in the 3rd, Hutch takes advantage of the pitcher's big windup to swipe home. He also adds a single. » June 6, 1948: Ted Williams, Stan Spence, and Vern Stephens hit successive HRs for the Red Sox against Fred Hutchinson of the Tigers. It is the second 3-straight-HR game by the BoSox during the season, with Spence, Stephens, and Bobby Doerr having accomplished the feat off Phil Marchildon of the A's on April 19. » May 19, 1950: The Tigers send 14 batters to the plate and score 10 runs in the 5th to beat the Athletics, 14–8. George Kell and Vic Wertz each have two hits in the frame. Tigers ace Virgil Trucks, a 19-game winner in 1949, hurts his arm and is lost for the season. Fred Hutchinson relieves Trucks in the 3rd and picks up the win. » June 15, 1950: The Tigers roll over the A's, 7–3, for their 8th win in nine meetings with the Mackmen. Hoot Evers has his 19 game hit streak stopped but George Kell runs his to 15 straight. The winner is Freddie Hutchinson, while Bobby Shantz is the loser. Shantz will not lose again to Detroit until June 13, 1958, a string of 12 straight wins. » July 19, 1950: At Fenway, Vern Stephens crashes a 3-run home run, his 200th career homer, in the first off Fred Hutchinson. Detroit wins 9–5 with a little help in the 9th from ump Boyer. Boyer calls time just before pinch-hitter Tom Wright triples to CF. In his do-over, Wright grounds out. Stephens joins five other active players with more than 200 homers: DiMaggio, Mize, Williams, Gordon, and Nicholson. » March 19, 1951: Detroit player rep Fred Hutchinson asks that players be allowed a say in choosing the new commissioner. » July 5, 1952: The Tigers fire their manager, Red Rolfe, replacing him with the popular pitcher Freddie Hutchinson. » October 12, 1955: The Cardinals hire Fred Hutchinson as their field manager, replacing Harry Walker. » September 29, 1958: The Cardinals fire manager Fred Hutchinson (69-75 and a 5th-place finish), replacing him with Solly Hemus, who will be a player-manager. Hemus was just acquired today from the Phillies for Gene Freese. » August 4, 1962: After a doubleheader loss to the Mets, 9–1 and 3–2 in 13 innings at the Polo Grounds, Reds manager Fred Hutchinson stays in the dugout instead of joining his players in the club house. He then calls the clubhouse and tells the players to be out of there in 15 minutes. They do. Hutch has tickets for Zero Mostel's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," but doesn't use them. » July 27, 1964: Reds manager Fred Hutchinson enters a Cincinnati hospital for further cancer treatment. Dick Sisler takes the helm. » August 4, 1964: Fred Hutchinson returns to manage the Reds. They respond by sweeping a pair 5–2 and 4–2 from the Braves. » August 13, 1964: A day after the team and fans celebrate his birthday, ailing Fred Hutchinson again takes a leave of absence as manager of Reds. Dick Sisler again takes charge. Hutch will enter a hospital for further treatments. » October 19, 1964: Ailing Fred Hutchinson (60-49) resigns as manager of Reds. » November 12, 1964: Former Cincinnati manager Fred Hutchinson, 45, dies of cancer in Florida. » November 30, 2001: Arizona P Curt Schilling wins the 2001 Hutch Award, given each year by Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to a player who displays "honor, courage & dedication to baseball while overcoming adversity in their personal or professional lives."