Ray Hayworth

Raymond Hall Hayworth (January 29, 1904 – September 25, 2002) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as a member of the Detroit Tigers team that won two consecutive American League pennants in and and won the 1935 World Series.

Professional baseball Detroit Tigers In January 1926, Hayworth was discovered at Oak Ridge by Detroit Tigers' scout Billy Doyle. Doyle signed Hayworth for $250. 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. He ended up playing 12 games for the 1926 Tigers, compiling a .233 batting average.

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.

Hayworth was recalled by the Tigers later in the 1929 season and appeared in 14 games, hitting for a .256 average. In 1932, Hayworth hit .293 and ranked among the league's top catchers with a .991 fielding percentage (second), 59 assists (third), a 4.99 range factor per nine innings (third), 399 putouts (fourth), 31 runners caught stealing (fourth), and eight double plays turned (fifth).

Cochrane suffered a nervous breakdown during the 1936 season, and Hayworth was called on to catch 81 games. He led the league's catchers with a .988 fielding percentage in 1936. He appeared in 26 games for the Dodgers in 1938 and 1939. He appeared in only five games for the Giants and was released on December 4, 1940.

Hayworth next signed with the St. Louis Browns as a free agent in March 1942. He appeared in only one game and was given an unconditional release in mid-May. He finished the 1942 season playing for the Rochester Red Wings of the International League. Hayworth remained with the Dodgers in 1944 and 1945 but appeared in only nine games.

Managerial and scouting career 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. Hayworth coached at Fort Worth during the 1946 season and also worked as a scout for Rickey and the Dodgers in the Negro leagues.

In 1947, Hayworth became manager of the Macon Peaches, a Chicago Cubs affiliate. He scouted Ernie Banks for the Cubs and arranged to buy Banks' contract for $22,000.

Family and later years

Hayworth was married in 1927 to Virginia Jones. 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.

In 2002, Hayworth died in Salisbury, North Carolina, at age of 98. He was buried at Guilford Memorial Park in Greensboro, North Carolina.