Bauer,"Hank" (Henry A.)
Baseball
b. July 31, 1922, E. St. Louis, IL
d. Feb. 9, 2007
Service in the Marine Corps during World War II delayed Bauer's professional baseball career and he didn't arrive in the major leagues until late in the 1948 season, when he was twenty-six. The following year, he became the starting right fielder for the AL's New York Yankees.
Bauer was a solid, dependable, if unspectacular player with the Yankees for eleven seasons, a three-time All-Star and member of nine pennant-winning teams. He led the league with 9 triples in 1957.
The Yankees traded Bauer to the Kansas City Athletics in 1960 and he became the team's manager early in the 1961 season, his last as a player. He was fired after a ninth-place finish in 1962.
The Baltimore Orioles hired him in 1964 and he guided the team to its first pennant in history in 1966. Baltimore beat the favored Los Angeles Dodgers in four straight World Series games.
Bauer was replaced midway through the 1968 season. He ended his managerial career with the Oakland Athletics in 1969. As a manager, Bauer had a 594-544 record for a .522 winning percentage.