Billy Hatcher

William Augustus Hatcher (born October 4 1960 in Williams, Arizona) is a former left and center fielder in Major League Baseball player for the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers, and former first base coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Hatcher is now the first base coach for the Reds.

Hatcher is best remembered for his dramatic home run in the bottom of the 14th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 National League Championship Series, temporarily saving the Astros from elimination. The Astros, however, went on to lose the game and the series to the New York Mets in the 16th inning.

Hatcher is also remembered for his fantastic hitting performance for the Reds in the 1990 World Series against the Oakland Athletics, setting a World Series record with seven consecutive hits. In addition, Hatcher's .750 batting average (9 for 12) broke a mark for a four-game World Series that was previously set by Babe Ruth (.625 in 1928). Hatcher, though, was not named the Series Most Valuable Player, as that honor went to Reds pitcher José Rijo.

Hatcher's most dubious achievement was his ten-game suspension during the season for bat corking. Hatcher later claimed that he had borrowed the bat from relief pitcher Dave Smith, a claim that was not widely believed. However, those who watched Hatcher closely before the event confirm that Hatcher had broke several bats in the days before using the illegal bat and the illegal bat looked very different than the bats he had previously used. Consequently, it is quite conceivable that Hatcher ran out of bats and had to borrow Smith's bat because he had ran out.

External links