Eugene Franklin "Lefty" Hayden (April 14, 1935 – June 13, 2003) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player who had a brief career in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

for the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

in 1958. The native of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, listed at and , threw and batted left-handed.

Biography

Hayden, a successful pitcher for

Rio Vista High School Rio Vista High School is a public high school located in the city of Rio Vista, California. The school is in the River Delta Unified School District The River Delta Unified School District is located in Sacramento County, California, United Sta ...

in California, signed a professional contract in mid-1954 with the

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 1968. They were initi ...

of the Pacific Coast League. That season, he played for the Tucson Cowboys in the

Arizona–Texas League The Arizona–Texas League was a Class D level American minor league baseball league that existed for nine seasons, from 1931–32, 1937–41, 1947–50 and 1952-54. In 1951, the Arizona-Texas loop merged with the Sunset League (based primarily ...

, then in 1955 played primarily for the

Wenatchee Chiefs The Wenatchee Chiefs were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Wenatchee, Washington. Founded in 1937, the team was a part of the Class B Western International League through 1954, although the team did not oper ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

. When the Rainiers became an affiliate of the Redlegs in 1956, he joined the Cincinnati organization, playing primarily for the

Savannah Redlegs A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

during that season, before spending all of the 1957 season with the Rainiers. Hayden was called up from the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

in the middle of the 1958 campaign, and pitched in three games for Cincinnati. He was effective in his first two outings, hurling a total of scoreless innings on June 26 and June 30 against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

and Milwaukee Braves, respectively. But in his third appearance, against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 6, he gave up four hits, a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

and two

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in only one inning pitched. The next day, he was returned to the minor leagues when Cincinnati called up outfielder Danny Morejón. Hayden did not return to the major leagues. He played for the minor league

Havana Sugar Kings The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds. Their home ...

and

Nashville Vols The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

during the 1958 season, his last in professional baseball. During his baseball career, Hayden pitched in a total of 165 minor league games, compiling a

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

of 53–46. While sometimes referred to as "Lefty", a common nickname for left-handed pitchers, Hayden was primarily called "Gene". In 1960, he was hired as a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

in Rio Vista; he was still with the department in 1969 as a sergeant. As of November 1992, Hayden was working at a substance abuse treatment center in

Herald, California Herald is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California. Herald sits at an elevation of . It is located east of the city of Galt along State Route 104. The ZIP Code is 95638, and the community is inside area code 209. The 2010 United ...

, and noted that he was a recovering alcoholic and had spent 1980 homeless in Los Angeles. Hayden died in

Lodi, California Lodi ( ) is a city located in San Joaquin County, California, in the center portion of California's Central Valley. The population was 62,134 at the 2010 census. The estimated population is approximately 67,586 according to 2019 census data. L ...

, at age 68 in 2003.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Gene 1935 births 2003 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cincinnati Redlegs players Havana Sugar Kings players Nashville Vols players Savannah Redlegs players Seattle Rainiers players Tucson Cowboys players Wenatchee Chiefs players Baseball players from San Francisco American police officers American expatriate baseball players in Cuba