View source for Chick Hafey

{{Short description|American baseball player (1903–1973)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name=Chick Hafey
| position=[[Outfielder]]
| image=ChickHafeyGoudeycard.jpg
| birth_date={{Birth date|1903|2|12}}
| birth_place=[[Berkeley, California]], U.S.
| death_date={{death date and age|1973|7|2|1903|2|12}}
| death_place=[[Calistoga, California]], U.S.
| bats=Right
| throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
| debutdate=August 28
| debutyear=1924
| debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
|finalleague = MLB
| finaldate=September 30
| finalyear=1937
| finalteam=Cincinnati Reds
|statleague = MLB
| stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
| stat1value=.317
| stat2label=[[Home run]]s
| stat2value=164
| stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
| stat3value=833
| teams=
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{mlby|1924}}–{{mlby|1931}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1932}}–{{mlby|1935}}, {{mlby|1937}})
| highlights=
* [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1933 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1933]])
* 2× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1926}}, {{wsy|1931}})
* [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions|NL batting champion]] (1931)
* [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame]]
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1971 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1971]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}
'''Charles James''' "'''Chick'''" '''Hafey''' (February 12, 1903 – July 2, 1973) was an American player in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB). Playing for the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] (1924–1931) and [[Cincinnati Reds]] (1932–1935, 1937), Hafey was a strong line-drive hitter who batted for a high average on a consistent basis.

Hafey was part of two [[World Series]] championship teams (in 1926 and 1931) as a Cardinal and also made history with the first hit in an All-Star game, starting in left field and [[Cleanup hitter|batting cleanup]] for the National League in the [[1933 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1933 game]]. He was selected by the Veterans Committee for the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in {{Baseball year|1971}}. In 2014, the Cardinals inducted him into their [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|team hall of fame]].

==Early life==
Hafey was born on February 12, 1903, in [[Berkeley, California]]. He attended [[Berkeley High School (California)|Berkeley High School]]. The [[St. Louis Cardinals]] signed Hafey out of high school as a pitcher. However, Cardinals [[general manager (baseball)|business manager]] [[Branch Rickey]] noticed Hafey's hitting abilities and decided that Hafey should become an outfielder.<ref name=Cohen>{{cite book|last1=Cohen|first1=Robert|title=The 50 Greatest Players in St. Louis Cardinals History|date=2013|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield|Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=978-0810892163|pages=127–128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xf2XAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|access-date=November 30, 2014}}</ref>

==Career==

===St. Louis Cardinals===
Hafey played in the minor leagues for the [[Fort Smith Twins]] of the [[Western Association]] in 1923. He moved to the [[Houston Buffaloes]] of the [[Texas League]] the next year, hitting .360 before being called up to the Cardinals near the end of the season. He split time between the Cardinals and [[Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball)|Syracuse Stars]] in 1925.<ref name=BRMinors>{{cite web|title=Chick Hafey Minor League Statistics & History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hafey-001cha|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=November 30, 2014}}</ref> He spent the 1926 season with the Cardinals, but he played only 78 games.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Chick Hafey Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hafeych01.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=November 30, 2014}}</ref>

Hafey was the first major success of Rickey's expansive [[farm system]], breaking through in 1927 when he led the National League in [[slugging percentage|slugging]]. Hafey, however, had suffered multiple beanings in 1926. He developed sinus trouble and his vision deteriorated, and Hafey began to wear eyeglasses while playing. Although [[Specs Toporcer]] was the first baseball player to wear glasses, Hafey was the most prominent; he is one of two Hall of Famers with eyeglasses, [[Reggie Jackson]] being the other. Because his vision became so variable, Hafey was obliged to rotate among three different pairs of glasses.

In the field, Hafey was known for having a "rifle arm." He had a power peak, averaging 27 [[home run]]s and 114 [[runs batted in|RBI]] from 1928 to 1930.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://baseballbiography.com/chick-hafey-1903 |title=Chick Hafey |publisher=baseballbiography.com |access-date=January 3, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In July 1929, Hafey tied a National League record with ten hits in ten consecutive at-bats. In August 1930, he hit for the cycle. In 1931, Hafey won one of the closest races for a batting title in history, hitting .349 to beat New York's [[Bill Terry]] by just .0002, and teammate [[Jim Bottomley]] by .0007. The title was only secured by a hit in Hafey's final at-bat of the season.  Hafey was fifth in the voting for the 1931 [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|MVP award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1931.shtml |title=1931 Awards Voting |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=January 3, 2014}}</ref>  When Hafey's Cardinals faced [[Al Simmons]]' [[Philadelphia Athletics|Athletics]] in the 1931 World Series, it marked just the second time that two reigning batting champions had opposed one another in the Fall Classic.

Although the soft-spoken Hafey was overshadowed by some of his raucous Cardinals teammates, he was frequently at odds with management.  Hafey's 1931 and 1932 seasons both began late due to salary disputes. Cardinals general manager Rickey fined Hafey for being late and out of shape in 1931. In 1932, coming off his batting title, Hafey demanded that the previous year's fine be added to his 1932 salary.  When Rickey refused, Hafey bolted from St. Louis' spring training camp. Rickey responded by trading Hafey to the last-place [[Cincinnati Reds]].

===Cincinnati Reds===
Hafey was happy to join the Reds, who gave him the raise he had sought, but his career faltered. His vision was still erratic, and his persistent sinus condition cost him half of the 1932 season, though he hit .344. In 1933, he was chosen for the inaugural [[All Star Game]], recording the first-ever All-Star hit. Although he maintained a solid batting average as a Red, his offensive production decreased.

In June 1935, suffering from sinus problems and influenza, he returned to his ranch near Berkeley and his relatives there said that he would not return to baseball that season. The team wanted team surgeons to perform sinus surgery, but Hafey planned to have a procedure performed by his own doctor.<ref name=PP>{{cite news|title=Hafey out for season|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19350613&id=q-QcAAAAIBAJ&pg=5014,579871|access-date=November 30, 2014|work=[[The Pittsburgh Press]]|date=June 13, 1935}}</ref> He tried a minor league comeback in 1936, but he gave that up in April because he was experiencing vision problems and dizzy spells still attributed to sinusitis.<ref name=TTN>{{cite news|title=Chick Hafey gives up idea of comeback try|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19360414&id=Xeg-AAAAIBAJ&pg=6117,4522983|access-date=November 30, 2014|work=[[The Tuscaloosa News]]|date=April 14, 1936}}</ref>

Hafey announced that he would attempt another comeback with the Reds in February 1937.<ref name=BDG>{{cite news|title=Chick Hafey plans comeback attempt|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19370211&id=WJkuAAAAIBAJ&pg=3715,3767894|access-date=November 30, 2014|work=[[Berkeley Daily Gazette]]|date=February 11, 1937}}</ref> Not long after that, Hafey abandoned that comeback due to a salary dispute. In May, he announced that he would work out with a [[Pacific Coast League]] team to work his way back to the Cardinals.<ref name=Bulletin>{{cite news|title=Chick Hafey plans to return to big league|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19370430&id=pSpPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5341,3734551|access-date=November 30, 2014|work=[[The Bulletin (Bend)|The Bulletin]]|date=April 30, 1937}}</ref> He hit .261 in 89 major league games that year. He was released before the 1938 season by general manager [[Warren Giles]] when they could not agree to contract terms.<ref name=TSR>{{cite news|last1=Schottelkotte|first1=Jim|title=Hall of Famer Chick Hafey is recalled by friends|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19730711&id=ZB9OAAAAIBAJ&pg=6061,4287696|access-date=November 30, 2014|work=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|date=July 11, 1973}}</ref>

He finished his career batting .317, with 164 home runs and 833 RBI. Hafey played in four World Series, hitting .205 in 92 plate appearances. In 1981, [[Lawrence Ritter]] and [[Donald Honig]] included Hafey in their 1981 book ''The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time''. They cited what they called "the [[Smoky Joe Wood]] Syndrome," where a player of truly exceptional talent might rank with the all-time greats on merit, despite a career sharply curtailed by injury.

==Honors==
Hafey was inducted into the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1971. [[Sabermetrics|Sabermetrician]] [[Bill James]] has listed Hafey as one of ten examples of Hall of Fame inductees who do not deserve the honor.<ref>[http://freakonomics.com/2008/04/01/bill-james-answers-all-your-baseball-questions/ "Bill James Answers All Your Baseball Questions"], an April 2008 entry from the ''[[Freakonomics]]'' blog</ref> In January 2014, the Cardinals announced Hafey among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum]] for the inaugural class of [[2014 St. Louis Cardinals season|2014]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Cardinals Press Release |date=January 18, 2014 |title=Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201232318/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |archive-date=2014-02-01 |access-date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=www.stlouis.cardinals.[[MLB.com|mlb.com]]}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions]]
* [[List of St. Louis Cardinals team records]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web |url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/96ae4951 |title=Chick Hafey |first=Greg |last=Erion |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]]}}

== External links ==
*{{bbhof|hafey-chick}}
*{{Baseballstats|br=h/hafeych01 |brm=hafey-001cha |fangraphs=1005191}}, or [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/Phafec101.htm Retrosheet]
*{{find a Grave}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box| before = [[Hack Wilson]] | title = [[Hitting for the cycle]]| years = August 21, 1930 | after = [[Babe Herman]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{1971 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals HOF}}
{{1926 St. Louis Cardinals}}
{{1931 St. Louis Cardinals}}
{{NL batting title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hafey, Chick}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Berkeley, California]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Fort Smith Twins players]]
[[Category:Houston Buffaloes players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball left fielders]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:National League batting champions]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals players]]
[[Category:Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players]]