Remembering the Giants hard-drinking slugger Jim Ray Hart

“You could have your back turned and not see the hitter, and when that ball came off Jimmy Ray’s bat, it made a different sound.” — teammate Jack Hiatt

Jim Ray Hart played the game of baseball in a form of isolation because he was not very educated and he had an unfortunate speech impediment that made him embarrassed to start or join a conversation. But he was, as one teammate called him, “A kindhearted, childlike presence in the clubhouse.”

Hart was a drinker, he loved bourbon, drank it every night in the hotel bar or in his room. His elbow bending earned him a nickname from his teammates: “Old Crow” after his favorite whiskey. He was tremendously strong, his arms were impressive and it was said that once he had a man by his hands there was no getting away. No one messed with Jim Ray Hart. But he had those two sides: the childlike countenance and the whiskey drinking ballplayer. One teammate was sure that if Hart had tamed his drinking, he could have been a Hall of Famer.

After his rookie season, when Hart clobbered 31 home runs for the Giants and finished second to Dick Allen in Rookie of the Year voting, he returned to his home in Mississippi. The next spring, the Giants were gathered in Phoenix for spring camp and after a few days Hart was not to be found. Manager Herman Franks called Tom Haller and Jim Davenport into his office and handed them a piece of paper with an address on it. He told the two players to take his automobile and drive to Mississippi to find Jim Ray Hart. When the two Giants got to rural Mississippi after a few days of driving, they found Hart on his porch in overalls with a pint of Old Crow. “It’s time to go to spring training,” Haller said. Hart packed his things and 20 minutes later the three were on the road headed back to Arizona.

Hart hit 23 home runs and drove in 96 runs in his second season, and had 33 homers and 93 RBIs and was an All-Star in his third year when he was only 24 years old. The following year, Hart added 29 homers and drove in 99, and in 1968 the stocky slugger hit 23 home runs. Through his first five years, Hart hit 139 home runs and established himself in the talented San Francisco lineup that included Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Willie McCovey.