Chick Hafey got the first base hit in All Star Game history
When Major League Baseball held it’s first all star game, it was a star-studded affair. The likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons, Carl Hubbell, and Lefty Grove made up the rosters. Despite the galaxy of inner-circle Cooperstown stars, the game’s first base hit came off the bat of l
Hafey retired four years later with 1,466 hits, 164 homers, 833 RBI, and a .317 average. Many see Hafey as one of many induction mistakes made when Frankie Frisch served in the Veterans Committee.
In 1973 baseball held a celebration commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first All Star Game. Every surviving player from the game in ’33 received an invitation. Hafey made arrangements to attend but passed away 18 days before the event.
Aaron’s did his part to help the National League win the contest. In the top of the 6th inning, hit a single off of Minnesota’s Bert Blyleven to score Joe Morgan and give the Senior Circuit a 2-1 lead.
His squad never looked back, winning the game 7-1. Aaron’s base hit saddled Blyleven with the loss in his first All Star appearance.
The 1931 batting champ, Chick Hafey earned two World Series rings
Afflicted with bad eyesight and sinus problems throughout his career, Charles “Chick” Hafey battled through his maladies for a career batting average of .317. He played in four Fall Classics from 1926-1931 winning bookend World Series titles. Hafey hit at least .329 from 1927-1932, highl
The 1931 batting champ, Chick Hafey earned two World Series rings
Afflicted with bad eyesight and sinus problems throughout his career, Charles “Chick” Hafey battled through his maladies for a career batting average of .317. He played in four Fall Classics from 1926-1931 winning bookend World Series titles.
Hafey hit at least .329 from 1927-1932, highlighted by a career-best .349 in 1931 when he earned the NL batting crown. Hafey slugged at least 26 homers and drove in 100 or more runs each season from 1928-1930.
Shown here is an offering from a short-lived company AuthenticArtCard.com. The company took signed index cards and designed images that looked like baseball cards to print on the signed side of the card. Careful not to interfere with the autographs, these images featured a closeup shot of the player as well as a smaller action pose. For many collectors these provided a welcomed alternative to a simple signed index card.
The reverse of the card shows Hafey’s career stats and provides a brief explanation of how the cards were produced.
Unfortunately the cards never fully took hold with collectors, many of whom felt the process simply ruined a perfectly good autographed index card.
Chick Hafey is one of very few bespectacled Hall of Fame players
Providing a nice contrast between the Authentic Art Card is this simple autographed index card. Most sizable autograph collection of Hall of Fame members includes index cards. Hafey is one of select group of Hall of Famer players who wore glasses. Of Hafey’s poor eyesight and sinus problems Br
Chick Hafey is one of very few bespectacled Hall of Fame players
Providing a nice contrast between the Authentic Art Card is this simple autographed index card. Most sizable autograph collection of Hall of Fame members includes index cards.
Hafey is one of select group of Hall of Famer players who wore glasses. Of Hafey’s poor eyesight and sinus problems Branch Rickey once said, “I always thought that if Hafey had been blessed with normal eyesight and good health he might have been the best right-handed hitter baseball had ever known.”
Despite the problems, Hafey collected the inaugural All Star game’s first base hit. In July, 1929, he also established a record that still stands when he recorded ten straight hits over a three-game span.
Chick Hafey owes his Cooperstown election to teammate Frank Frisch
Chick Hafey’s selection to the Hall of Fame is puzzling. A veteran of 13 MLB campaigns, Hafey played in as many as 100 games in seven seasons. Only twice did he play in as many as 140 games in a year. When it came time for the baseball writers to consider him for the Hall of Fame, Chick Hafey topp
Chick Hafey owes his Cooperstown election to teammate Frank Frisch
Chick Hafey’s selection to the Hall of Fame is puzzling. A veteran of 13 MLB campaigns, Hafey played in as many as 100 games in seven seasons. Only twice did he play in as many as 140 games in a year. When it came time for the baseball writers to consider him for the Hall of Fame, Chick Hafey topped out at 10.8% of the vote, well below the 75% required for induction.
Ten years after he dropped off the ballot, the Veterans Committee with chairman Frankie Frisch opened the doors to Cooperstown and ushered Chick Hafey into baseball immortality. Most observers agree that Hafey’s five seasons alongside Frisch as a teammate in St. Louis are what put him in the Hall.
After a no-doubt Hall of Fame playing career in which he established the highest lifetime average among inducted switch hitters, Frisch became a voting member of the Hall’s Veterans Committee. Once there he ascended to the position of committee chairman, wielding his substantial influence to induct men who played alongside him.
Shown above is a letter written by Frisch to Paul Kerr, president of the Hall of Fame from 1961-1978. Frisch writes, “I want to thank you Uncle Paul for selecting the Old Flash as a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame Committee on Veterans. I feel it quite an honor, and I am proud, and I do hope I can do a thorough job.”.
The letter continues before Frisch pens his remarkably consistent signature at the bottom. The Old Flash would serve on the committee from his appointment in 1966 until his death in 1973.
Baseball historians agree that the selections of Jesse Haines (1970), Dave Bancroft (1971), Hafey (1971), Ross Youngs (1972), and George Kelly (1973) are among the most glaring errors in the the history of Hall of Fame.
Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, and Cy Young are in everyone’s Hall of Fame. Marginal players like the ones selected on Frankie Frisch’s watch on the Veterans Committee have helped define and damage the Hall of Fame.
His five most glaring selections — George Kelly, Jesse Haines, Dave Bancroft, Ross Youngs, and Chick Hafey have ignited many arguments. Here’s a big reason why: Imagine if your favorite player is Keith Hernandez and you think he should be in Cooperstown. He’s flat out a better first baseman than George Kelly. Hernandez was in fact a better player than any of the five Frisch selections. There are likely hundreds of players better than the Frisch Five.
My name is Robert Santoro, but my grandfather’s name was Richard Heafy and we have believed for many years that Chick Hafey is a distant relative of ours. My mother’s maiden name was Heafy and her dad was Richard Heafy. He told us a story of visiting a cousin one time in St. Louis who was a ballplayer. I am a huge baseball fan and my grandfather looks exactly like Chick at similar ages. We believe that perhaps when the relatives came over to America the last name was somehow botched and was mispronounced and spelled differently by the people on Ellis Island. My grandfather, grandmother, and now my mother most recently, passed away without being able to solve this puzzle. I have done some personal history searching and I believe Chick had two children, who both passed away prematurely young. I also have found out his mother lived till 1997. I only wish I had been able to contact her. I am looking for someone who can possibly help me link our family trees and was wondering if you have any knowledge of Chick’s family, his kids or anyone who may have donated items to the hall that I could try and find and contact? Any names of relatives or people who are on record with the hall of fame who might be able to get me in touch with the family would be helpful. I also have come to realize that he had at least 1 maybe 2 cousins who also played in the majors. Tom Hafey was one of the cousins. My mom recently passed and I am trying to unravel this story in her honor. If you could see a picture of my grandfather you would understand why we feel the name somehow got changed or mispronounced to record keepers. That story my grandfather told me was when I was very young so I did not think to investigate it, nor did I have the ability to research it in the pre-computer age. I am hoping you can help me. Thank you in advance. Respectfully, Robert Santoro, possible 3rd cousin to Chick Hafey, and huge baseball fan and historian of the game.
My name is Robert Santoro, but my grandfather’s name was Richard Heafy and we have believed for many years that Chick Hafey is a distant relative of ours. My mother’s maiden name was Heafy and her dad was Richard Heafy. He told us a story of visiting a cousin one time in St. Louis who was a ballplayer. I am a huge baseball fan and my grandfather looks exactly like Chick at similar ages. We believe that perhaps when the relatives came over to America the last name was somehow botched and was mispronounced and spelled differently by the people on Ellis Island. My grandfather, grandmother, and now my mother most recently, passed away without being able to solve this puzzle. I have done some personal history searching and I believe Chick had two children, who both passed away prematurely young. I also have found out his mother lived till 1997. I only wish I had been able to contact her. I am looking for someone who can possibly help me link our family trees and was wondering if you have any knowledge of Chick’s family, his kids or anyone who may have donated items to the hall that I could try and find and contact? Any names of relatives or people who are on record with the hall of fame who might be able to get me in touch with the family would be helpful. I also have come to realize that he had at least 1 maybe 2 cousins who also played in the majors. Tom Hafey was one of the cousins. My mom recently passed and I am trying to unravel this story in her honor. If you could see a picture of my grandfather you would understand why we feel the name somehow got changed or mispronounced to record keepers. That story my grandfather told me was when I was very young so I did not think to investigate it, nor did I have the ability to research it in the pre-computer age. I am hoping you can help me. Thank you in advance.
Respectfully,
Robert Santoro, possible 3rd cousin to Chick Hafey, and huge baseball fan and historian of the game.