William McKinley "Pinky" Hargrave (January 31, 1896 – October 3, 1942) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He played professional baseball for 19 years from 1919 to 1937, including 10 years 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), ...

with the Washington Senators (1923–1925, 1930–1931),

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

(1925–1926),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1928–1930), and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(1932–1933).

Early years

Hargrave was born in

New Haven, Indiana New Haven is a city in Adams, Jefferson, and St. Joseph townships, Allen County, Indiana, United States. It sits to the east of the city of Fort Wayne, the second largest city in Indiana, and is situated mostly along the southern banks of the Maum ...

, in 1896. He was the younger brother of

Bubbles Hargrave Eugene Franklin "Bubbles" Hargrave (July 15, 1892 – February 23, 1969) was an Americans, American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees. He won the National League batting title i ...

, who was a catcher in the major leagues between 1913 and 1930.

Professional baseball

Hargrave began playing professional baseball for Waterbury in the Eastern League in 1919 and 1920. He next played for the New Haven Weissmen in the Eastern League from 1920 to 1922. He compiled a .321 batting average for New Haven in 119 games during the 1922 season. He made his major league debut at age 27 on May 18, 1923, with the Washington Senators. On June 18, 1925, the Senators traded Hargrave and

George Mogridge George Anthony Mogridge (February 18, 1889 – March 4, 1962) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1911–12), New York Yankees (1915–20), Washington Senators (1921–25 ...

to the

for

Hank Severeid Henry Levai Severeid (June 1, 1891 – December 17, 1968) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1926, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Browns where, he was kno ...

. In 10 major league seasons, Hargrave played in 650 games (442 as catcher) and hit .278 with a .339 on-base percentage and a .428 slugging percentage. He had 1,452 putouts, 445 hits, 265 RBIs, 246 assists, 177 runs, 146 extra base hits, and 140 walks. He recorded a career .976

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. His best season was 1929 with the Tigers, when he batted .330. Hargrave played his last major league game on September 23, 1933. Hargrave continued to play in the minor leagues for five additional years. He played for the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

from 1934 to 1936 and was selected in 1934 as the Most Valuable Player in the American Association after compiling a .356 batting average with 17 home runs. He concluded his career with the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

in 1938.

Later years

After retiring from baseball, Hargrave worked at a municipal light plant in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. He also worked as an umpire for

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

baseball games. He died of a heart attack in November 1942 while helping to convert a Fort Wayne baseball field into a football field.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargrave, Pinky Major League Baseball catchers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players St. Louis Browns players Detroit Tigers players Boston Braves players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New Haven Profs players Binghamton Triplets players Montreal Royals players Newark Bears players Baseball players from Indiana People from New Haven, Indiana 1896 births 1942 deaths American Association (1902–1997) MVP Award winners