Hugh Alexander (baseball)

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Hugh Alexander (July 10, 1917 – November 25, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He was an outfielder during his brief playing career, but after he suffered a career-ending injury at the age of 20 he became one of baseball's most celebrated scouts.[1]

Born in Buffalo, Missouri, Alexander moved to Oklahoma with his family at the age of five.[2][3] Alexander the player stood Script error: No such module "convert". tall, weighed Script error: No such module "convert"., and batted and threw right-handed. He spent 1936 and 1937 in the lower levels of the Cleveland Indians' farm system, and batted .348 and .344 in successive seasons.[4] Called to the Majors, he appeared in seven games for the 1937 Indians in August, getting one hit in eleven at bats (.091) and striking out five times.[2][3] He returned to the Indians for a single game in September as a pinch runner.[3] That offseason, while working his family's oil fields in Oklahoma, he lost his left hand in a drilling accident, ending his playing career.[2][3] Alexander then began a very short career as a bartender.[3]

In the aftermath of the accident, Alexander was immediately named a scout for the Indians; at 20, he was unusually young for the assignment and scouting jobs were at a premium during the height of The Great Depression.[1] But the first two players he signed for Cleveland became big-league All-Stars — pitcher Allie Reynolds and outfielder Dale Mitchell.[1] Sportswriter Allen Barra praised him as a "superb judge of talent."[5] During a 64-year scouting career, working for the Indians, Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, Alexander earned the nickname "Uncle Hughie"[6] and would sign other stars, including Steve Garvey, Frank Howard, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Don Sutton for the Dodgers alone.[2]

In 1984 Alexander co-founded the "Scout of the Year Program", which recognised the best scouts in the country each year. Alexander was awarded "Scout of the Year" in 1996.[7] He retired in 1998, and died on November 25, 2000.[3]

References

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  1. ↑ a b c Hugh Alexander, 83, a scout for the next stars of baseball Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, November 29, 2000.
  2. ↑ a b c d McKenna, Brian. Early exits: the premature endings of baseball careers, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, p. 211. Template:ISBN
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Minor league record from Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

  • Career statistics from Script error: No such module "String".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
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