Harvey "Gink" Hendrick (November 9, 1897 – October 29, 1941) was an American

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), ...

player who played for several different teams during an eleven-year career.

Early years

Born near

Mason, Tennessee Mason is a town in Tipton County, Tennessee. The population was 1,609 at the 2010 census. Mason is located along U.S. Route 70, and is home to a federal detention facility. History The first rail service in Tipton County was established in Dec ...

on November 9, 1897 to Richard T. and Nannie Harvey Hendrick, Hendrick went to elementary school in

Brownsville, Tennessee Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Haywood County, Tennessee, United States, located in the western Its population as of the 2010 census was 10,292, with a decrease to 9,788 at the 2020 census. The city is named after General Jacob J ...

. Hendrick attended preparatory school at Fitzgerald & Clarke School in

Tullahoma, Tennessee Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555. It is the principal city of the Tullahoma micropo ...

; also attended by the likes of Vanderbilt football greats

Lynn Bomar Robert Lynn Bomar (January 21, 1901 – June 11, 1964) was an American football end in the National Football League (NFL). Bomar played college football, basketball and baseball for Vanderbilt University, following coach Wallace Wade and ...

and

Hek Wakefield Henry Smith "Hek" Wakefield (February 10, 1899 – November 19, 1962) was an American college football player and coach. He played fullback and end for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University from 1921 to 1924, receiving the honor ...

. He then attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, playing football and baseball for the Commodores. He was a favored target of

Jess Neely Jesse Claiborne Neely (January 4, 1898 – April 9, 1983) was an American football player and a baseball and football coach. He was head football coach at Southwestern University (now Rhodes College) from 1924 to 1927, at Clemson University f ...

on the football team.

Professional baseball

He signed with the Memphis Chicks after graduating from Vanderbilt, but was released from the team before playing a game. He began his professional career with the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

in 1921, and had a .274

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 141 games. He followed that up the following year with a .311 batting average in 134 games for the

Galveston Sand Crabs The Galveston Sand Crabs were a professional baseball team based in Texas. The team competed in the South Texas League and Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States sin ...

. During the offseason, shortly after being signed by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, Hendrick was traded to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

with

George Pipgras George William Pipgras (December 20, 1899 – October 19, 1986) was an American right-handed starting pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball. Known as "The Danish Viking", he spent most of his playing career with the New York Yankees, breaki ...

for

Al DeVormer Albert E. DeVormer (August 19, 1891 – August 29, 1966) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a backup catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and New York Giants. DeVor ...

. He made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1923, where he had a .273 batting average in 37 games and had one

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

in the

1923 World Series The 1923 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1923 season. The 20th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees against the National League champion New York Giants. ...

. After one more year with New York where he played in 40 games, he joined the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

and played in 25 games for them. Hendrick spent 1926 in the minor leagues with the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

, then joined the

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

, arriving days before everyone else for

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

, as the team planned to use him as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

. In 1927, he had a .310 average and 29

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 128 games, then followed that up a .318 average in 1928, a .354 average in 1929 which was ninth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

along with 14

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 82

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, and a .257 average in 1930. After playing in one game for the Robins in 1931, he was traded to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

for

Mickey Heath Minor Wilson "Mickey" Heath (October 30, 1903 – July 30, 1986) was a professional baseball player. He was a first baseman over parts of two seasons (1931–32) with the Cincinnati Reds. For his career, he compiled a .213 batting average in 160 ...

. In 137 games for the Reds, he had a .314 batting average. Hendrick split 1932 with the Reds and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, who he was traded to during the season for

Chick Hafey 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 hitt ...

. He then finished his career with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in 1933 and the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in 1934. In an 11-year major league career, Hendrick batted .308 (896-2910) with 434

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, 48

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 413

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 922

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. His

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

was .364 and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

was .443. He surpassed the .300 mark four times.

Death

Hendrick died by his own hand, shooting himself in his

Covington, Tennessee Covington is a city in central Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Covington is the second largest city and county seat of Tipton County. The city is located in West Tennessee, east of the Mississippi River. The city's population was 9,038 at ...

home, on October 29, 1941. He was 43.

References

External links

Harvey Hendrick
at Baseball Almanac * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrick, Harvey 1897 births 1941 suicides Baseball players from Tennessee Major League Baseball first basemen New York Yankees players Cleveland Indians players Brooklyn Robins players Cincinnati Reds players St. Louis Cardinals players Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Vanderbilt University alumni Suicides by firearm in Tennessee Chattanooga Lookouts players Galveston Sand Crabs players Newark Bears (IL) players Providence Grays (minor league) players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Tipton County, Tennessee Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Vanderbilt Commodores football players All-Southern college football players

Early years

Professional baseball

Death

See also

References

External links