Hoot Evers

Walter Arthur "Hoot" Evers (February 8, 1921 – January 25, 1991) was an American baseball outfielder, scout, coach, and executive.

Evers played professional baseball from 1941 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956, including 12 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1941, 1946–1952, 1954), Boston Red Sox (1952–1954), New York Giants (1954), Baltimore Orioles (1954, 1956), and Cleveland Indians (1955–1956).

Evers missed the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons due to military service during World War II. He was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1948 and 1950. During the 1950 season, he compiled a .323 batting average with 67 extra-base hits and led the American League with 11 triples. Multiple broken bones, beanings, and other injuries slowed his production after the 1950 season.

After his playing career ended, Evers worked for the Cleveland Indians as a scout, coach, and farm system executive from 1957 to 1970. He then served as the Detroit Tigers' director of player development from 1970 to 1978.

Early years

Evers was born in 1921 in St. Louis, and grew up in nearby Collinsville, Illinois. He was such a fan of Hoot Gibson's cowboy movies as a child that his friends gave him the nickname "Hoot". He attended Collinsville Township High School where he competed in football, basketball, tennis, and track. He was a star basketball player, punted and played back for the football team, and won the Illinois interscholastic championship with a javelin throw of 179 feet, 8 inches. The week after he lost his eligibility, he signed to play baseball for the Detroit Tigers.

Professional baseball Minor leagues and military service After signing with the Tigers in February 1941, Evers spent most of the 1941 season playing for Winston-Salem and Beaumont in the team's minor league system. He was called up to the Tigers late in the season and made his major league debut on September 16, 1941. He returned to Beaumont in 1942, compiling a .322 batting average and 46 extra-base hits in 152 games. He played baseball with the WAAF baseball team during the war.

Detroit Tigers The injuries mount (1946–47)

Evers returned to the Tigers in the spring of 1946. He was leading the team in spring training games with a .400 batting average but suffered a broken thumb and ankle sliding into second base at the end of March. He returned to the Tigers in May. Then, on June 3, he collided with second baseman Eddie Mayo while attempting to field a pop fly; he suffered a broken jaw, was knocked unconscious and had to be carried from the field on a stretcher. He returned three weeks later and ended up with a .266 batting average in 81 games, 75 of them as the Tigers' starting center fielder.

Evers was tutored in Detroit by fellow outfielder Doc Cramer. Cramer said of Evers: "Hoot, and I mean this, was the most promising-looking young ballplayer I have ever seen come to the big leagues. He had all the fundamentals — the build, a good head, speed, and an arm, with good eyes at the plate. . . . The only thing I had to teach him was how to play the hitters, and he had all that the first time around the league. Taking care of him was the softest job I ever had."

Peak seasons (1948–50) He had a breakout season in 1948, appearing in 137 games as the Tigers' starting center fielder. For the entire 1948 season, he ranked among the American League's leading hitters with a .311 batting average (eighth), 33 doubles (ninth), and 103 RBIs (ninth). He also demonstrated good range in the outfield with a 392 putouts, third most by an American League outfielder. His .969 fielding percentage ranked fifth among the league's center fielders. As of May 2014, he remains the only major league player to hit for the cycle with another triple in the same game.

Evers was also a solid fielder, leading all American League outfielders in fielding percentage (.997) in 1950 with one error in over 325 chances. With strong performances in the field and at the bat, Evers finished 11th in the 1950 American League Most Valuable Player voting.

Declining production (1951–52) In 1951, Evers split his playing time between left field (66 games) and center field (43 games). His batting average dropped nearly 100 points from .323 to .224, and his RBI production dropped from 103 to 46. After recuperating from the thumb injury, Evers returned to the Tigers' lineup for only one game in 1952.

Boston Red Sox

Evers' offensive production never reached the levels of his peak years in Detroit. With Ted Williams serving in the military, Evers became the Red Sox starting left fielder in 1952, hitting .262 with 59 RBIs. He appeared in only 11 games for the Giants as a pinch hitter, and compiled a .091 batting average with a home run as his only hit in 11 at bats. He appeared in 30 games for the 1954 Tigers, 13 as a starting outfielder. His batting average was .183 with the Tigers. Evers appeared in 50 games for the 1955 Orioles, 32 in right field, 21 in left field, and five in center field. He hit .238 in 185 at bats with six home runs and 30 RBIs. He appeared in 39 games for the Indians in 1955, compiling a .288 batting average in 66 at bats. He appeared in 48 games, 30 as the Orioles' starting right fielder, and compiled a .241 batting average. He appeared in his last major league game on September 30, 1956. He held that position until 1978, when he became a scout for the Tigers in Houston. Tommy John recalled Evers giving him advice when John joined the Indians organization. "I learned a lot from Hoot and still talk to him often," John wrote in 1991. "I'll never forget how helpful he was."

In 1991, Evers died at age 69 at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston. He had recently suffered a heart attack.