Clyde Hatter

Clyde Melno Hatter (August 7, 1908 - October 16, 1937) was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played two seasons with the Detroit Tigers in 1935 and 1937.

Born in Poplar Hills, Kentucky, Hatter attended Eastern Kentucky University where threw a no-hitter against Kentucky Wesleyan on April 22, 1929. [1]

He debuted with the Detroit Tigers on April 23, 1935 and was with the team as they won the American League pennant. Hatter played in 8 games, 2 as a starter, for the 1935 Tigers, pitching 33-1/3 innings with no decisions and a 7.56 ERA. On June 14, 1935, Hatter started for the Tigers in a game against the Boston Red Sox. Hatter lasted only 3-1/3 innings, and the Tigers lost, 10-8, despite collecting 17 hits, including 3 each by Hank Greenberg and Goose Goslin.

Hatter did not play in the World Series and spent the 1936 season in the minor leagues. He came back to the Tigers in 1937, appearing in 3 games, with a 1-0 record and an ERA of 11.57. Hatter played his last major league game on May 10, 1937, and died five months later in Yosemite, Kentucky at age 29.

Hatter's death has been reported as having been due to a heart attack [2] However, teammate Marv Owen recalled events differently. Interviewed in the 1980s, Owen said Hatter did not show up for a couple games, prompting Owen to check Hatter's room. Hatter told Owen he had been sick, and Owen called the team doctor. The doctor concluded that Hatter was drunk, found two glasses of whiskey in Hatter's bureau drawer, and reported his findings to manager Mickey Cochrane. Hatter was sent to the minor leagues in Louisville, Kentucky. Owen reported Hatter's death this way: "He went home that winter and they found him dead in the back of his father's car. From booze." (Richard Bak, "Cobb Would Have Caught It: The Golden Age of Baseball in Detroit," p. 239.

External links

Biography portal

• Baseball-Reference.com
• Clyde Hatter at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Hatter, Clyde
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball player
Date of birth	August 7, 1908
Place of birth
Date of death	October 16, 1937
Place of death