Another 1950s Oriole player passed away last week. Six decades later, I suppose it's an occupational hazard. In this case, the deceased is Grady Hatton, aged 90. He spent eight years and change with the Reds at the beginning of his career, including an unusual All-Star selection in 1952. That season, he batted .212/.319/.312 with 9 home runs and 57 RBI. If you check his first-half splits, they're not much better: .235/.335/.358. The infielder's time in Baltimore wasn't very notable, either: 27 games in 1956 on the downside of his career. Nine hits in 61 at-bats (.148 AVG), a home run, three RBI. But Grady has his place in the Oriole trivia book, as brought to my attention by reader (and coworker) Al. Hatton was the last O's player to wear number five on his back before Brooks Robinson came up to stay in 1957 and staked his claim to it. So fare thee well, Grady Hatton. You'll go down in history with Mike Epstein (#4), Dave Skaggs (#8), Gino Cimoli (#20), Dean Stone (#22), and Jim Hutto (#33).
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