Clint Hartung | |||
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Hartung in May 1947
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Pitcher / outfielder | |||
Born: Clinton Clarence Hartung August 10, 1922 Hondo, Texas |
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Died: July 8, 2010 Sinton, Texas |
(aged 87)|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 15, 1947, for the New York Giants | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 28, 1952, for the New York Giants | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 29–29 | ||
Earned run average | 5.02 | ||
Strikeouts | 167 | ||
Batting average | .238 | ||
Home runs | 14 | ||
Runs batted in | 43 | ||
Teams | |||
Clint Hartung (August 10, 1922 – July 8, 2010) was a right-handed pitcher and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Giants from 1947 to 1952.
Clinton Clarence Hartung was born in Hondo, Texas, on August 10, 1922. His high school team won a state baseball championship in 1939.
Originally signed for the Minneapolis Millers, Hartung played for the Eau Claire Bears of the Northern League for two months in 1942, hitting .358 and winning three games as a pitcher.
He was then drafted into the Army Air Forces, where he spent the duration of World War II playing on military teams such as the Hickam Field Bombers; for the latter he went 25–0 as a pitcher and batted .567.
A year before his demobilization, the Giants signed him for $35,000, a very high sum, and expectations were proportionally high: Sportswriter Tom Meany later said of him, "Rather than stop at the Polo Grounds they should have taken him straight to Cooperstown."
In 1947 he finally debuted in the major leagues, but his performance under these conditions quickly proved less stellar. His first season he only managed 9–7 pitching and .306 hitting. In 1948 his stats declined to 8–8 and .179; his pitching never recovered, and 1950 was his last year in that job for the Giants, while his hitting did recover somewhat but he never achieved anything like his earlier numbers. As with some other , he was noted for doing much better in spring training than he would in the regular season. His fielding was never good, and reportedly he was unable to hit curveballs.