Card Corner, 1973 Topps: Jim Ray Hart

He was portrayed as “Jim Hart” on most of his Topps cards, but we always referred to him as “Jim Ray Hart.” Hey, it was cool to have a player with three names. Just saying the name Jim Ray Hart made us feel as if we were part of baseball’s in crowd. While most guys were just “Jim,” this guy was “Jimmy Ray.” We loved it.

It also helped us distinguish between Jim Ray Hart, the baseball player, and Jim Hart, the quarterback of the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals. They were two different guys, clearly. Our Jim Hart was black, while football’s Jim Hart was white. We cared a lot more about the former than the latter.

His 1973 Topps card lists him as “Jim Hart,” but it is still the best of all the cards portraying him. It’s a wonderful action shot, shown from the off side of home plate at Candlestick Park. We can see Hart from his hitting position and an unknown catcher for the Padres (Bob Barton perhaps?) simultaneously reacting to the arrival of the pitch.

Hart’s bat is beginning to bend as he moves his wrist forward—the bending of the bat is something commonly seen with hard-hitting sluggers—while the Padres catcher is trying to snare the pitch before the massive Hart can unleash one of his thunderous swings. If the catcher isn’t careful, his mitt might come into contact with Hart’s bat, perhaps resulting in the rare call of catcher’s interference.

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At times, grabbing onto Hart’s bat might have been the best way to defend him. In his prime, he was a feared slugger, a perfect complement to stars like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda in a stacked San Francisco lineup. He used a looping swing to generate power; despite the loop, he did not strike out often, reaching the 100-K mark only once in his career.

Hart’s professional career began in 1960, when the Giants signed him as an amateur free agent. Assigned to Salem of the Appalachian League, Hart hit .403 in 139 at-bats. Having mastered that league, he moved up to Quincy of the Midwest League, where he batted a mild .260. Still, he was considered primed and ready for a promotion to Class-C ball in 1961. He put up an OPS of 1.007, beginning a three-year reign of domination against increasingly difficult minor league competition.

After a strong half-season at Triple-A Tacoma in 1963, Hart earned a trip to the major league roster. Unfortunately, his first season did not come without two cases hardship. In only his second game, he was hit in the shoulder blade by a Bob Gibson fastball. Later in the season, an errant pitch from Curt Simmons hit him in the head, putting him right back on the disabled list.

The pin cushion treatment limited Hart to only seven games in 1963. Not to worry, he made up for lost time in 1964. He put up huge numbers, including 31 home runs and an OPS of .840 to place second (along with Rico Carty) in the Rookie of the Year sweepstakes. He effectively pushed Jim Davenport, who had been the starting third baseman since 1958, into a super utility role, spelling starters at second base, shortstop and third.

Hart’s rookie season marked the start of a terrific five-year run. Forging home run totals of 23, 33, 29 and 23, Hart consistently reached the .800 OPS range. Those numbers were especially impressive given the dominance of National League pitching in the mid-’60s, not to mention the degree of difficulty posed by the cold night air and the swirling winds of Candlestick Park. Hart tended to struggle at Candlestick; his road numbers consistently showed him to be a better hitter than he was at home.

Burly and stocky to the point that he looked like an NFL linebacker, Hart reached his peak in 1967, when he slugged .509, drew 77 walks, and posted a career-best OPS of .882. He put up those numbers despite showing up to spring training overweight and thereby drawing the wrath of manager Herman Franks. National League pitchers certainly didn’t notice any effect on Hart’s swing. In a sign of respect, Hart drew 11 intentional walks that summer, second only to McCovey’s team-high total of 17.

Hart made a profound impression on Giants fans, including a future columnist for The Hardball Times. “[He had] a fundamentally sound approach, steady head, and quick, strong hands,” says Steve Treder, who has followed the Giants since the 1960s. “He was basically Kevin Mitchell at the plate.”

From an offensive standpoint, the Giants could not ask for much more from their No. 5 hitter, who was assigned the duty of protecting Mays and McCovey in the middle of their order. Defensively, Hart offered a much different outlook. At 5-foot-11 and close to 200 pounds, Hart did not have the ideal build to play third base. Stiff and limited in his movements, he lacked the range of your average 1960s third baseman. He did not have the soft hands to compensate for those shortcomings, as evidenced by his appalling error totals of 28, 32, 24 and 16.

To make matters worse, Hart did not particularly enjoy playing third. As he once said rather famously about third base, “it’s just too damn close to the hitters.” So at times the Giants tried Hart in left field, where he was hardly smooth, but he was far less a liability.

After another fine season in 1968, trade rumors began to circulate around Hart for the first time in his career. In December, reports indicated that the Giants were talking to the Angels about a deal that would send Hart to California for All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi. The deal made some sense for San Francisco, given the Giants’ abundance of outfielders and their desire for a shortstop who could hit. The Giants and Angels contemplated the trade, but ultimately, Hart stayed put.

Ironically, the “Year of the Pitcher” marked the end of Hart’s run of prime seasons. In April of 1969, he hurt his shoulder, which caused a severe loss of power. Not only did he surrender his third base job to Davenport, but his playing time fell off in left field, too. With only three home runs in 95 games, Hart lost time to younger outfielders like Ken Henderson and Dave Marshall.

At 27, Hart should have been in the midst of his physical prime. Instead, his shoulder continued to bother him. Just before Opening Day in 1970, the Giants farmed him out to their top affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. After the 1970 season, Hart and the Giants finally agreed that surgery was the best option.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Hart went into such a downward spiral that he continued to split time between San Francisco and the minor leagues the next two seasons. At a time when Hart should have been putting up huge numbers, especially with the pitching mound having been lowered and the strike zone expanded, Hart looked lost at the plate. Instead, he was spending much of each summer at Triple-A Phoenix, where he feasted against weaker pitching.

So why did Hart’s hitting ability at the major league level fall off so badly and so quickly? At first, Giants observers tried to explain his strange decline by pointing at an accumulation of injuries: the beaning at the hands of Simmons, followed by the shoulder injury in 1969, and then trouble with the cartilage in his knees. But that was a narrow way of looking at the situation. Actually, Hart’s drastic decline was being caused, not just by injuries, but by a bad personal habit.

By the early 1970s, it was well known in baseball circles that Hart was a heavy drinker. As the son of a North Carolina whiskey bootlegger, he had grown up with alcohol. “If you could drink that White Lightning, you could drink anything,” Hart told Baseball Digest.

As a major leaguer, he continued to drink. All one had to do was read between the lines of some of the newspaper reports about Hart. Let’s consider an article written by Jim McGee in a January 1971 edition of the San Francisco Examiner. “Hart’s way of life was well known,” wrote McGee. “He liked the good things. He saw no reason why he shouldn’t enjoy himself off the field as well as on.”

“Enjoying himself” involved not only too much eating, but too much drinking. Yet at least one of Hart’s Giants teammates came to his defense against the whispers. “He never came to the ballpark with liquor on his breath,” Giants infielder Hal Lanier later told The Sporting News. “He never came to the ballpark when he couldn’t play.”

A quiet and introspective sort, Hart did not make a public display of his drinking. He did not show up to games with a pronounced hangover, nor did he involve himself in drunken brawls. Still, it was obvious that had a problem with alcohol, which consumed too much of his time away from the ballpark. There is little doubt that his heavy drinking affected his health, which in turn affected is performance.

Hart remained with the Giants through the start of the 1973 season. By the time his Topps card (No. 538) made its way into stores, it was somewhat obsolete. He was no longer a Giant.

With the DH rule now in place in the American League, the Yankees needed a right-handed hitting DH who could split time with Ron Blomberg. Yankees GM Lee MacPhail contacted the Giants about Hart. Yankees coach Dick Howser gave a strong recommendation, having seen Hart play a lot in the mid-1960s. In particular, Howser liked Hart’s ability to hit with power to all fields, including right and right-center.

The Giants were only too happy to part with their declining slugger. They surrendered Hart for a small sum of cash, roughly $30,000.

Frustrated by a lack of playing time in San Francisco, Hart was thrilled to hear of the trade. He could have waited 72 hours before reporting to the Yankees, but he wouldn‘t need anywhere close to that. “I was fishing when my girlfriend called me. She told me the Yankees had picked me up,” Hart informed The Sporting News. “For the first time I thought about the designated hitter rule. I rushed home, packed my bags, and headed for Baltimore to join the club.”

Hart fit in well in the Yankee clubhouse. Although he was a quiet presence, he was quick to laugh at the jokes and pranks of his teammates. Laid back and easygoing, he earned an interesting nickname in New York: second baseman Horace Clarke dubbed him “Black Angus.” Sportswriter Dick Young asked Clarke about the moniker. “Did you ever see one?” Clarke replied. “This high, and all beef. He has arms like a bull. Legs like a bull. Strength like a bull.”

Smartly, the Yankees didn’t push their newly acquired “bull” into playing third base or the outfield, where he might have a greater chance of injury. “It will be snowing in July when you see Jim Ray going onto the field,” manager Ralph Houk told The Sporting News. “He’s my DH every day he can swing a bat.”

Near the end of May, Hart’s batting average soared into the .360s. In one of his best games, he hit a home run, a double and a pair of singles in a victory over the Tigers. “I like this job very much,” Hart told Sports Illustrated. “I have three gloves in my locker and I hope they fall apart from age before I get a chance to use them. I don’t miss playing in the field. I might just get a rocking chair for the dugout like old Satch Paige had.”

Hart’s hitting eventually cooled off, as his average fell into the .250s. But he did hit 13 home runs in 339 at-bats, an impressive ratio given the difficult dimensions of the old Yankee Stadium. On a team searching for offense, Hart proved to be a plus.

As it turned out, Hart’s 1973 season represented a last hurrah. When he reported to spring training in 1974, his bat looked so slow that the Yankees demoted him to Triple-A Syracuse. Recalled in May, Hart struggled badly in 19 at-bats, recording only one hit. Deciding that Hart’s body, affected by too many drinks, too many cigarettes, and too much rich food, had given out at the age of 32, the Yankees released him in June.

Unwilling to give up the cause, Hart signed to play in the Mexican League. For the next two and a half injury-plagued seasons, he played south of the border, hoping that some American League team would give him another look as a DH. No teams called. Hart finally decided to retire in 1976.

In retrospect, Hart said that heavy drinking cost his career dearly. “If I hadn’t been drinking, I’d have played another four , five years, no problem,” Hart admitted to Larry Stone of the San Francisco Examiner. “It got to the point I didn’t care about the game no more. What I was worrying about was the first and the 15th. That’s when the checks came in. I just wanted to go out and have a drink or two. I mean, this was every day.”

After baseball, Hart found himself sinking further. Alcoholism eventually cost him his house, which was repossessed. When he went to the grocery store, he scrounged the floor in a desperate search for loose change.

Hart hit rock-bottom while on a flight to Toronto to play in an old-timers’ game. Having downed several drinks before the flight, Hart blacked out for a spell and then woke up in the middle of the plane, unaware of where he was and where he was going. At that moment, Hart decided that he had to stop drinking.

He did stop, at least for awhile. He put himself through an alcohol rehab program called Project 90. He found work in a warehouse for Safeway Stores first in Richmond, Calif., and then in Tracy, Calif., before retiring in 2006. Since then, his whereabouts have become somewhat of a mystery. A few years ago, the Giants tried to contact him for a 50th anniversary celebration of the franchise’s tenure in San Francisco, but he did not respond to the invitation.

Rumors have circulated that Hart has begun drinking again. His increasing weight has reportedly caused him health problems, too. There have been reports, unsubstantiated, that Hart hit such hard times that he was rendered homeless, much like Leon Wagner, who was profiled earlier in this space. It’s hard to know for sure what has happened to Hart, because of his continuing reclusive nature.

It’s certainly Hart’s right to remain private. But his family and friends are concerned. His fans would love nothing better than to meet him, to have an opportunity for a handshake and an autograph. There are probably many people who would like to help him, if he needs it.

They hope Jim Ray Hart will receive that message.


Bruce Markusen has authored seven baseball books, including biographies of Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Ted Williams, and A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s, which was awarded SABR's Seymour Medal.
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Rob M
11 years ago

Card Corner is a great feature.  Thank you for these articles.

Carl
11 years ago

Bruce,

Love these articles.  Both looking at the cards from my childhood and learning and/or remembering the starts from the time.  Please keep them coming.

Marc Schneider
11 years ago

I love these articles too.  Lots of players in this generation had drinking problems. But MLB didn’t care about that (or amphetamines) nearly as much as they eventually came to care about steroids.

I have always wondered why those Giant teams didn’t win more pennants.  They had a dominant lineup and had Marichal and Perry in the rotation. I guess their bad luck was to coincide with the Koufax-Drysdale Dodgers and the Gibson Cardinals.

Cal
11 years ago

As a San Francisco native, Hart was my 2nd favorite Giant when I was growing up.  He hit the ball even harder than Mays, it seemed.
What seems strange is that I rarely hear him mentioned on Giant broadcasts as one of the Giant greats.

Dick (then Richie) Allen had a great story in his bio “Crash” where he related that he and Hart were fighting for the Eastern League batting title.  Knowing Jim’s appetite for drink, Allen took Hart out one night intending to get him drunk, thinking a hungover Hart would go hitless the following day. It was a hungover Allen who went hitless, and Hart went 5-for-5 or something along those lines.

The Giants never reached the pinnacle in the Hart era because aside from Mays, McCovey, Hart & at times Haller, no one could hit a lick.  The top and bottom of the lineup was always mediocre…or worse.

Ray
11 years ago

Love this feature!  It really makes you think about the man and the story behind the card.  So many of these cards I still have boxed up in the attic waiting for my boys.  Understanding the personal struggles and insteresting tidbits of info sures makes you think differently about the player when you see that familiar card’s picture from teenage days gone by.  Ahh…the smell of the flat piece of bubble gum as you opened the wrapping of the cards waiting to be discovered! 

These stories and memories are priceless for fans and players a like.  Keepum’ comin’!

BlftBucco
11 years ago

I know that you mention unsubstantiated reports that Jim Ray Hart could have been rendered homeless, but you’d think that the MLB pension should keep players from falling into that situation.

Someone would have to have a deep addiction (drugs, gambling, etc.) or mental illness as to where they are not collecting their pension to fall into homelessness.

Hopefully Jim is living an enjoyable private life somewhere.

bucdaddy
11 years ago

Correction:

“especially with the pitching mound having been lowered and the strike zone expanded”

The strike zone was expanded in the early ‘60s to include (IIRC) the top of the shoulder and the bottom of the knee. After 1968 it went back to something more like the armpits to the top of the knee, and the second deadball era gradually came to an end.

In the great three-way NL pennant race of 1966, when I became a baseball fan, Hart helped kill my Pirates. SF, LA and Pitt went into the weekend bunched, with the Giants in Pittsburgh to play a doubleheader on Saturday.

In the top of the fourth in Game 1, with the Pirates up 1-0 on Marichal, Hart tripled with two outs off Woodie Fryman. Hiatt singled him in and Ollie Brown unloaded a two-run homer.

In the top of the eighth, with the Giants now behind 4-3, Hart drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a double by Brown that led to a two-run inning and a 5-4 lead. This time Marichal held it (he pitched a complete game).

Pirates 92-68
Giants 91-68

In the second game, Bobby Bolin beat Tommie Sisk, 2-0. Bolin doubled in a run and later scored.

Giants 92-68
Pirates 92-69

That pretty much finished the Pirates in the race. But just for good measure, the Giants won on Sunday as well, 7-3, with Hart going 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.

Giants 93-68
Pirates 92-70

But the Dodgers were 95-67 and won the pennant, with the Giants 1.5 back and the Pirates 3.

Carl
11 years ago

As for the catcher, I would guess Fred Kendall, who was the semi-regular catcher for the 1972 Padres w 91 games caught.  The primary back-up was Pat Corrales w 44 games while Bob Barton only played 29 games w the 72 Padres.

Anyone able to see anything that would offer a more definitive answer to who the catcher is, or perhaps the game itself?

Cal
11 years ago

About ten years ago, I wrote to a lot of Giants players from that era, specifically asking about Hart, who had basically dropped off the radar.

Without exception, responses stated Hart was a fine teammate and a very likeable guy. Not one bad thing to say. A few did mention how sad it was about the drinking.

Hollywould
11 years ago

Love these stories/ keep em coming

Robert Haymond
11 years ago

Thanks for this article on Jim Ray Hart: Proof positive that even the greatest can, and do, fail at life.

Bil
11 years ago

A great name from the past, especially for Giants fans.

dennis Bedard
11 years ago

Interesting that that Bobby Bonds, a Hart contemporary, also had a drinking problem.  Bonds also later played for the Yankees.  Jim Ray Hart is one more piece of evidence that the 60’s Giants were loaded with talent despite never having won the WS.

John
11 years ago

Barton wore uniform #1 for his entire ‘70-‘72 Padres career—seems likely he’s the catcher.

Bruce Markusen
11 years ago

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

rob
11 years ago

Heartfelt (no pun intended) article on Jim Ray.  He was before my time, and for some reason I get him and the Toy Cannon, Jimmy Wynn confused.

Marty Hall
11 years ago

I was a big Jim Ray Hart fan in the 1960’s. I really loved his 1965 Topps card. Close up of him holding the bat. I have never liked the action shots that are the norm today. Just give me a nice semi action posed shot of the player. When I went looking for a baseball bat for little league (only wood back then) I made my pick based on the autograph that was on the bat. Well I found a James Ray Hart model that was instantly purchased. Didn’t care how it felt in those days. It was all based on the wood engraved signature. Can you imagine doing that today?? Great article Bruce. Early 1960’s era was fantastic. So many superstars in their prime (Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Frank Robinson, Gibson, Marichal, Koufax, Mantle, Rose, and on and on) The glory days in my opinion.

87 Cards
11 years ago

I believe this picture has Barton as catcher and was not snapped in 1972 but in 1971.

Hart is wearing the Giants’ home whites and Candlestick Park was flawed with artificial turf from 1970 to 1978.

Bob Barton and Jim Ray Hart were SF teammates from 1965-1969 but only met at home plate at Candlestick as opponents on:

        a/ June 18,1971 (game 2), Hart pinch-hit in the 8th inning

        b/ September 21,1971 (game 1), Hart pinch-hit in the 9th inning

                              Two interesting asides on Bob Barton:

a/ if the photo is from June 18, 1971, it was part of one of his big days as a pro.  He hit a grand slam in top of the ninth to put the Padres ahead 9-5.  The Giants came back with five in the bottom of the ninth to win 10-9.  Barton talks
about his day of work here: 

                      http://baseballbytheletters.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

b/ Barton was traded to Cincinnati after the 1972 season for Pat Corrales but was released in June 1973.  He returned the Padres in 1974 and led the National League in the much-flawed stat (but aren’t they all?) of caught-stealing percentage taking down 20 of 41 (51%) attempted base thefts in his final season.

Jim
11 years ago

Thanks for he retrospective on Jim Ray Hart. Growing up in Southern California in the 60’s, we got 9 baseball games on TV a year – when the Dodgers traveled to Candlestick to play the Giants. With Vin Scully calling the action, the Giants stars – Mays, McCovey, Marichal, Hart and “the rage of Riverside” Bobby Bonds always seemed bigger than life.

But back in the pre-internet days, guys sometimes declined and/or disappeared very quickly with no explanation – it always seemed that Hart faded away very quickly. This article helps fill in the gap a little bit….Thanks

Steve Treder
11 years ago

“if the photo is from June 18, 1971, it was part of one of his big days as a pro.  He hit a grand slam in top of the ninth to put the Padres ahead 9-5.  The Giants came back with five in the bottom of the ninth to win 10-9.”

Oh good heavens what a game.  A week before my 13th birthday.  You may conclude that I was a bit into it.

Ken McKim
9 years ago

Spoke with a fellow JRH fan a couple of years back who said Jim’s sister had not heard from him in some time,but last report was that he had been working for Safeway in SoCal in some capacity. Hope he is well,would love to see him at some Giants events before all from that era pass on.

Bruce Markusen
9 years ago

Ken, thanks for the update on Jim Ray Hart’s possible whereabouts.