Fred Hutchinson - Final Years and Legacy

Final Years and Legacy

Winning the 1961 pennant secured Hutchinson's place in Cincinnati. In 1962, his Reds won 98 games but finished third, 3½ games behind the Giants. While the team fell to fifth in 1963, with an 86–76 mark, it continued to blend in young talent, such as young shortstop Leo Cárdenas and freshman second baseman Pete Rose, who was named the National League's Rookie of the Year. With a solid corps of veterans and a strong farm system, the Reds were considered a contending club in 1964, provided that its pitching staff made a comeback. Tragically, an off-season medical examination revealed malignant tumors in Hutchinson's lungs, chest and neck. Given the cancer treatments available at the time, the prognosis was grim. The Reds made their manager's illness public on January 3, 1964. As The Sporting News noted, the team played the 1964 season with the terrible knowledge that Hutchinson "probably was at death's door."

His health failing, Hutchinson nevertheless managed the Reds through July 27, when he was hospitalized. He returned to the dugout August 4, but could only endure nine more days before he turned the team over to his first-base coach, Dick Sisler, one day after Hutch's 45th birthday. With their manager now critically ill, the inspired Reds caught fire and won 29 out of their last 47 games as the first-place Philadelphia Phillies collapsed, but the team finished in a tie with the Phillies for second, one game behind the Cardinals, who went on to win that year's World Series. Hutchinson formally resigned as manager October 19; he died three weeks later in Bradenton, Florida. SPORT magazine posthumously named him "Man of the Year" for 1964 in tribute to his courage in battling his final illness and the Reds permanently retired his uniform number (1). The Hutch Award is given annually by Major League Baseball in his memory as well.

Fred Hutchinson was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1965. His career record as a major league manager, in all or parts of 12 seasons, was 830-827 (.501) with nine tie games. He should be remembered not only for his winning baseball teams, and as the man who launched Cincinnati into an historic winning era (which ended years after his death with the Big Red Machine in the 70's) but for his sometimes hard-driving management of developing talent, such as the young Frank Robinsion — who according to the sports press of the time felt that Hutchinson sometimes rode him excessively hard. On the other hand, Hutchinson is described favorably by pitcher/author Jim Brosnan in his two season memoirs, The Long Season (an account of Brosnan's 1959 campaign) and Pennant Race (about 1961). Brosnan describes the team's wariness of the manager's hot temper and its respect for his competitive nature and leadership skills, and notes Hutchinson's sense of humor as well.

Wrote Brosnan in 1959: "Most ballplayers respect Hutch. In fact, many of them admire him, which is even better than liking him. He seems to have a tremendous inner power that a player can sense. When Hutch gets a grip on things it doesn't seem probable that he's going to lose it. He seldom blows his top at a player, seldom panics in a game, usually lets the players work out of their own troubles if possible."

In honor of his achievements with Buffalo, Hutchinson became a charter member of the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

On December 24, 1999, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer named Hutchinson Seattle's athlete of the 20th Century.

Meanwhile, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center continues to make news as a cancer treatment center — in medical and baseball circles. When Boston Red Sox rookie left-handed pitcher Jon Lester, a Washington native, was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma during the 2006 season, he chose to receive his chemotherapy regimen at the Seattle facility. Coming full circle, on November 11, 2008, Lester — a 16-game winner and postseason pitching star — was chosen as the winner of the 2008 Hutch Award.