Fred Hutchinson - Pitching Career

Pitching Career

Fred Hutchinson, known throughout baseball as "Hutch", attended the University of Washington, where he was a 1939 initiate of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. A right-handed pitcher, he entered the organized baseball ranks in 1938 with the unaffiliated Seattle Rainiers of the AA Pacific Coast League and caused an immediate sensation at age 19, winning a league-best 25 games and that season's Minor League Player of the Year award as bestowed by The Sporting News.

After his contract was purchased by the Detroit Tigers of the American League, Hutchinson struggled in his early Major League career with a 6–13 record and an earned-run average of 5.43 during the 1939–1941 seasons. His ineffectiveness caused his return to the minor leagues in each season. In 1941, at Buffalo of the AA International League, he enjoyed another stellar campaign, leading the league in victories (26) and innings pitched (284). A successful Major League career seemed to await Hutchinson, then 22, when the U.S. entered World War II. He saw active duty in the U.S. Navy, rose to the rank of lieutenant commander, and lost four full seasons (1942–1945) to military service.

In 1946, Hutchinson – approaching 27 – returned to baseball with a vengeance, winning a place in the defending World Series champion Tigers’ starting rotation and beginning a string of six straight campaigns of ten or more wins, including seasons of 18 (1947) and 17 victories (1950). He was selected to the 1951 American League All-Star team, and pitched three innings of the junior loop's 8-3 loss at Hutchinson's home park, Briggs Stadium.

Overall, Hutchinson compiled a 95–71 career record over 11 seasons, all with Detroit – a stellar mark considering his early-career mishaps. He was known as a ferocious competitor, who once reportedly shattered every light bulb from the dugout to the clubhouse after being lifted from a ballgame. He also was one of the best-hitting pitchers of his time; a left-handed batter, he frequently pinch-hit and batted over .300 four times during his major league career. His career batting average was .263, with four home runs and 83 runs batted in — excellent totals for a pitcher.

On a dubious note, he is also recalled as the pitcher who gave up the longest homer in Ted Williams' career, a 502-foot (153 m) blast in 1946 that broke the straw hat of a startled fan sitting in Fenway Park's right-center-field bleachers. The seat where the home run landed has been painted red since to mark the long ball. Hutchinson led the AL in home runs allowed with 32 during the 1948 season.