Billy Hunter

Gordon William Hunter (June 4, 1928 – July 3, 2025) was an American baseball player, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). A shortstop, he was the last surviving player of the St. Louis Browns and the 1954 inaugural season of the modern Baltimore Orioles. Hunter was a reserve shortstop on the 1956 World Series winning New York Yankees, and third base coach on Baltimore Orioles teams that won the World Series in 1966 and 1970.

Early life and education Hunter was born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 1928. He grew up in Indiana, Pennsylvania and attended Indiana High School. In 1947, Hunter attended Indiana State Teachers College (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania). In 1948, he transferred to Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) on a baseball and football scholarship, where he played as a T-formation quarterback.

Playing career Hunter was listed as tall and . He threw and batted right-handed. After attending college, Hunter was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. had 75 runs batted in and 24 stolen bases, He was chosen the Texas League's Most Valuable Player.

The Dodgers had Pee Wee Reese at shortstop, however, and it was unlikely Hunter would move up to replace Reese. He was traded to the St. Louis Browns of the American League (AL) on October 14, 1952, for three players (Ray Coleman, Stan Rojek, and Bob Mahoney), along with a $95,000 payment to the Dodgers. It was also reported at the time that the Browns paid the equivalent of $150,000. With the death of Ed Mickelson on June 27, 2025, Hunter became the last living St. Louis Brown.

Hunter was the first shortstop on the modern Baltimore Orioles team when the Browns moved to Maryland in 1954; he was the last living player from the 1954 Orioles prior to his death in 2025. He started a majority of the Orioles games at shortstop, and hit a career high .243. He was part of a multi-player trade between the Orioles and New York Yankees in November 1954. Among others, the Yankees also received pitchers Bob Turley (who would pitch in 15 World Series games for the Yankees) and Don Larsen (who pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series), and the Orioles received Gene Woodling, Gus Triandos (who became the Orioles starting catcher for the next seven years), and Willy Miranda (who replaced Hunter at shortstop). He was a member of the 1956 Yankees championship team for the season, but played in only 39 games and did not get into any of the seven world series games.

Before the 1957 season, the Yankees traded Hunter, along with Irv Noren, Milt Graff, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Rip Coleman, and a player to be named later to the Kansas City Athletics for Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Jack McMahan, Wayne Belardi, and two players to be named later, one of whom was Clete Boyer. In 1957, Hunter started at second base for the A's, but hit only .191 in 116 games. In June 1958, the A's traded Hunter to the Cleveland Indians for Chico Carrasquel. His final year of professional baseball was with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1959. Bauer was fired in 1968, but new Orioles manager Earl Weaver kept Hunter on as his third base coach. When Weaver was ejected in game 4 of the 1969 World Series, Hunter filled in as manager.

MLB manager and college head coach Hunter departed from the Orioles on June 27, 1977, to become the Texas Rangers' fourth manager that season, succeeding Connie Ryan, who had served in the interim for six games. His appointment ended the Rangers' search for a new manager, which had begun five days prior with Frank Lucchesi's dismissal, followed by Eddie Stanky's one-game stint. During the season, Hunter had a confrontation with pitcher Dock Ellis on a team bus. Ellis was later quoted saying Hunter "may be Hitler, but he ain't making no lampshade out of me." After turning down a five-year contract extension in midseason, offered by Rangers' owner Brad Corbett, Hunter was fired with one day left in the campaign due to his poor relationship with his team. When asked if he was sorry he took the manager's job, Hunter replied "yes." Just one year earlier, first baseman Mike Hargrove had called Hunter "'a perfect blend of knowing how to handle people, plus knowing the game.'" but he never returned to the Major Leagues as a coach or manager, though he claimed to have received a half dozen job offers in the winter of 1978. He became head baseball coach (1979–1988) and athletic director (1984–1995) at Maryland's Towson State University, retiring in 1995. At the time of his death, Hunter was the last living member of the St. Louis Browns and the 1954 Baltimore Orioles.

Honors Hunter was a 1996 honoree into the Orioles Hall of Fame, These three men were so well thought of in Baltimore that a crowd of 400 showed up at the luncheon at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel. In 1998, he was inducted into the Towson University Hall of Fame.