Ray Hayworth

Raymond Hall Hayworth (January 29, 1904 – September 25, 2002) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout.

[2][3] In January 1926, Hayworth was discovered at Oak Ridge by Detroit Tigers' scout Billy Doyle.

[4] He began the 1926 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, but he was called up when Johnny Bassler broke his leg and then Larry Woodall was also injured with a spike wound in his knee.

[6] He began the 1929 season with the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association where he played 73 games and hit for a career-high .330 batting average under manager Casey Stengel.

[1] He set an American League record for the most consecutive chances by a catcher without an error at 439, over a span of 97 games from September 2, 1931, to August 29, 1932.

[1] He ranked among the leaders again in 1933 with a .994 fielding percentage (second), 44 runners caught stealing (second), a 5.33 range factor per nine innings (second), 546 putouts (third), 79 assists (third), and 14 double plays turned (third).

[1] On December 12, 1933, the Tigers acquired Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane in a trade with the Philadelphia Athletics.

[1] On September 9, 1939, the Dodgers sent Hayworth to the New York Giants in exchange for $6,000 and in completion of another deal made two days earlier.

[6] In February 1944, Hayworth signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers who needed an insurance policy in case the team's regular catchers were called to wartime duty.

[1] Interviewed by The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1944, Hayworth said he intended to keep playing until his knees "buckle under me," adding: "Baseball is full of regrets when you come down to your last innings.

"[17] In December 1945, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey hired Hayworth to take over as manager of the club's Texas League affiliate, the Fort Worth Cats.

[18] Hayworth coached at Fort Worth during the 1946 season and also worked as a scout for Rickey and the Dodgers in the Negro leagues.

[23] They two sons, Raymond Jr. and John D. His grandson, J. D. Hayworth, was a Republican Party member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona.